Unprecedented Support to Queer Culture Festival in St. Petersburg

This year's Russian Festival of Queer Culture, which is going to take place in St. Petersburg on September 16-25, gained much support from distinguished artists, politicians, journalists and other public figures. The event has scheduled exhibitions, debates, concerts, poetry evenings, movie and animation contests, theatre, fashion shows and drag king shows. Among its supporters are Mayor of Berlin,Klaus Wowereit, British actor Stephen Fry, Belgian singer Lara Fabian, American actor and filmmakerJohn Cameron Mitchell, Swedish musician Jay-Jay Johanson, one of the guests of the event, and others.

"The Festival's slogan - Art of Being Yourself - is not only a call to every individual to be confident of him or herself and to accept differences of others, but also calls for a fair society built upon mutual respect, for a society that sees diversity as an enrichment and not as a blemish," says Klaus Wowereit, the Mayor of Berlin. "I wish the International Queer Culture Festival in St. Petersburg much success."

"When a question if I wanted to participate in the Festival came up, there was no hesitation. I definitely said yes directly," says Jay-Jay Johanson, popular Swedish musician and guest star of the Festival. "I wish the Festival good luck and I hope their voice will be heard all over the world."

"As I sang few years ago, 'The Difference', is also a value that you should be proud of. You are aware that the difference, disturbs, scares, and sometimes leads people to commit acts of violence. I have faced the criticism, a lot of rumors floated around me. That could have made me doubt and abandon, but I never lost hope and confidence. Belief in itself is a strength and assume its difference is just as much," says Lara Fabian in her message for the festival.

The organizers are also very happy for the Russian support they received this year. They thank Vladimir Pozner, famous Russian TV journalist and host,Artemiy Troickiy, one of the leading specialists in modern music in Russia andValeriy Panyushkin, well-known journalist and writer.

"Problem of homophobia exists everywhere in the world to various degrees, but in Russia it is felt very strongly," says Vladimir Pozner. "Much time will be needed to change public opinion, but I salute you for trying to achieve it, for showing courage... and even admire you, but I want to warn you that a long road lies ahead."

"We think it is very important for public persons to speak up for LGBT cause, because they have a great influence on public opinion. While in the West, artists and politicians often speak out in support of LGBT rights, in Russia this kind of support is unprecedented. We want to thank these wonderful people for taking the time to help us bring the message of tolerance to the hearts and minds of the Russian society," says Polina Savchenko, the Festival coordinator.

September 16-25 of this year, the International Festival of Queer Culture is coming to St. Petersburg, Russia for the second time. This is a non-commercial project whose goal is to promote tolerance and diversity and to attract society's attention to the problems of homophobia and transphobia in Russia through the language of art.

Queer Culture Festival is one of the largest openly queer events in Russia. Last year, it attracted over 3000 people and went on without any obstacles from the Russian authorities, right extremist groups, or any other interruptions. This year, the organizers hope to attract even more attention, peacefully and lawfully, to the issues that affect LGBT people.

You can find the Festival's program on the website here

The organizer of the Festival is the St. Petersburg LGBT organization Coming Out with the financial support by the Swedish human rights organization Civil Rights Defenders.