Russia is one of the most dangerous countries in the world for lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender people. And for the past three months, the gay journalist Karen Shainyan he has challenged the oppression that the population suffers in that country with the videos he makes and publishes on YouTube.
On the YouTube channel Straight Talk with Gay People (“direct conversations with gays”, in free translation), in interviews with well-known personalities in the field, such as actors Cynthia Nixon (Sex and the City) and Billy Porter (pose), Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Michael Cunningham and New Yorker journalist Masha Gessen.
In an interview with the website The Daily Beast, he said that he makes the videos to inspire LGBT Russians to come out of the closet to inform the population of what they want. “Ignorance and indifference are essential reasons behind the worst homophobia,” he said.
See some of his videos below.
