The Transgender Story of Coy Mathis is Edited Out of the Russian edition of "Good Night Stories For Rebel Girls"

This was reported last week in Huffington Post's Queer Voices by Daria Litvinova, LGBTQ People Erased From Books In Russia Under ‘Gay Propaganda’ Law: A story written by trans activist Coy Mathis is missing from the Russian edition of a new children’s book.

Image from this beautiful post about the original "Good Night Stories For Rebel Girls" on MommyShorts

According to the article,

Liza Lazerson, a feminist blogger who owns a copy, said she was surprised to see that while the cover promised 100 stories the book contained only 99 and one blank page - supposedly for the reader to add their own.

“But then a follower sent me a photo of Coy Mathis’s story from the French edition,” Lazerson, who is based in Moscow, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in written comments.

Mathis, an 11-year-old transgender girl from the United States, won a landmark victory in a 2013 case against her school allowing her to use the girl’s bathroom.

Bombora, which printed the book in Russia, did not immediately respond to requests for comment....

Francesca Cavallo, one of the authors of “Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls,” said she was “deeply saddened that Coy’s story has been left out.”

It's sad and frustrating that children and their families in Russia won't have access to this empowering story of a young girl who was born with a boy's body, and how her parents (and ultimately, a judge) were so supportive of her being allowed to use whatever bathroom she felt most comfortable using at school.

In these times where governments create darkness, every bit of light becomes more important, and more powerful. 

The light in me recognizes and acknowledges the light in you,
Lee

Day 17 Finale: So Many More Russian LGBTQ People To Celebrate!

Russian Pride Map, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, found here.

In a country of 143 million people, even the conservative estimate of 10% of a given population being Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender or Queer would mean that 14,300,000 Russian people are not able to be their authentic selves.

More Than Fourteen Million People!

We who are able to need to stand up, speak up for, and celebrate Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Russia!

To bring our celebration to a rousing and inspiring finale, here are 24 additional LGBTQ Russians to know about:


Polyxena Soloviova (1867-1924) was a poet and the first translator of Alice in Wonderland into Russian. She shared her life with Natalia Manaseina, who left her husband to be with Polyxena.

Polyxena and Natalia living openly as a lesbian couple, an arrangement "accepted by their families and by society" is mentioned here and on pg. 351  of "Russia's Gay Literature and Culture"

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Konstantin Leontiev (1831-1891) was a well-known novelist and literary critic. He was also bisexual.
pg. 351 of "Russia's Gay Literature and Culture"


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Prince Vladimir Meshchersky, Russian gay novelist and publisher who was "frequently invited to the imperial palace by the last three tsars." pg. 351 of "Russia's Gay Literature and Culture"

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Sergei Nabakov was Russian and gay. He lived in Austria with the man he loved up until he was killed in the Holocaust.  He was written about by his brother, Vladimir, in Vladimir's memoir about their Russian childhood. Vladamir also wrote in that memoir about how each of their parents had a gay brother (as did he.) pg. 351 of "Russia's Gay Literature and Culture"

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Viacheslav Ivanov and Zinovieva-Annibal Ivanov (1866-1907) were Russian. They were husband and wife. And they were important members of the Queer and Allied community.

Viacheslav was bisexual, and included in his poetry collection Cor Ardens (1911) a section called "Eros" about his crush on another man. Zinovieva-Annibal wrote the novel Thirty-Three Freaks and the collection of stories The Tragic Zoo "that did for Russian lesbians' what Kuzmin's Wings had done for gay men: They showed the reading public that lesbian love could be serious, deep and moving." After Zinovieva-Annibal's death, Viacheslav published more of her work that hadn't yet been out in the world. pg. 354 of "Russia's Gay Literature and Culture"

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Konstantin Somov was a gay Russian artist. pg. 356 of "Russia's Gay Literature and Culture"

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Kuzma Petrov-Vodin was a gay Russian artist - "Russia's foremost painter of male nudes." pg. 356 of "Russia's Gay Literature and Culture"

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Sergei Lemeshev was a popular Operatic tenor and Sviatoslav Richter was a pianist. Both were Russian and well known. And both were men who loved other men during "the Stalinist age." (1930-1953ish) Sergei and Sviatoslav were both married to women, but that didn't change who they were or whom they felt attraction to. pg. 362 of "Russia's Gay Literature and Culture"


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David Dar (1910-1980) was a Soviet writer who came out as gay after leaving the USSR.

Edward Limionov was also a Russian writer who, once he left Russia, openly lived (and wrote about his life) as a bisexual.  pg. 363 of "Russia's Gay Literature and Culture"

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"Twentieth-century Russians who have been openly gay, lesbian or bisexual during at least some part of their lives include activists Yevegeniya Debryanskaya, Roman Kalinin, and Alexander Zaremba; dancers Boris Moiseev and Valery Mikhailovsky, and writers Evgenii Kharitonov (1941-1981)... and Marina Tsvetaeva."
pg. 484 of "Completely Queer"

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"May 24, 1974
From the USSR (see RUSSIA) comes a rare public acknowledgement of the country's repressive policies against gay men and lesbians. American news services report that noted FILM director Sergei Paradzhanov has been given six years' hard labor for crimes including "partial homosexuality' and "incitement to suicide." He is one of an estimated 1,000 persons arrested each year on charges related to homosexuality."
pg. 648 of "Completely Queer"

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"1993
Two years after his death, Yevgeny Kharitonov's openly homoerotic poetry and prose are published for the first time in RUSSIA. Previously distributed via underground samizdat, Kharitonov achieved a reputation as the first major gay male writer in Russia since Mikhail Kuzmin, who died in 1936."
pg. 667 of "Completely Queer"

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"April 24, 1994
In RUSSIA, Yaroslav Mogutin, the country's most visible openly gay journalist, makes headlines when he attempts to register his marriage to American artist Robert Filippini. The head of Moscow's Wedding Palace No. 4 politely refuses his application."
pg. 669 of "Completely Queer"

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Soviet Russian diplomat G.V. Chicherin (1872-1936) was gay. He was Commissar for foreign affairs, (starting under Lenin) until his retirement in 1930, and was the head of the Soviet delegation to the Genoa Conference after World War One. He negotiated - at a secret meeting with Germany's foreign Minister, Rathenau - the Treaty of Rapallo.

There's lots more detail on Chicherin and on how Rathenau was, like Chicherin, "another bachelor, who well understood Chicherin: they had similar tastes" - that's code for them both being men who could fall in love with other men - on pages 145-147 of "Homosexuals In History" by A.L. Rowse. Dorset Press (Macmillian) 1977.

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Alexie Apukhtim was a popular Russian poet of the late 1800s and early 1900s, who had a romantic relationship with Peter Tchaikovsky. pg. 351 of "Russia's Gay Literature and Culture" And for more on Tchaikovsky, see day one of our Celebration - taking us full circle!

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The citations from "Russia's Gay Literature and Culture" are from Simon Karlinsky's excellent chapter, "Russia's Gay Literature and Culture: the Impact of the October Revolution" in "Hidden from History: Reclaiming the Gay and Lesbian Past" Edited by Martin Duberman, Martha Vicinus and George Chauncey, Jr. Meridian Press (Penguin), New York. 1989.

The citations from "Completely Queer" are from "Completely Queer: The Gay and Lesbian Encyclopedia" by Steve Hogan and Lee Hudson. Henry Holt, New York, 1998.

Anno Komorov and Masha Bast: Day 16 of Our Celebration of LGBTQ Russia - Not Just Yesterday, But Today! An Olympic Counter-Programming Event #OlympicShame #RussianPride #CheersToSochi

Anno Komarov

Photo of Anno Komarov at Moscow Pride 2010 by Charles Meacham, found here

Anno Komarov is a Genderqueer person. He is Russian. (I use the "he" pronoun since Anno requests it in his twitter profile, @annomosquito)

And standing in the photo above taken at Moscow Pride in 2010 with that sign, he says it so eloquently.

"My GENDER is MY choice" 

Masha Bast

From the Association of Russian Lawyers For Human Rights website

Masha Bast is a lawyer. She's Russian. She's the Chairwoman of the Association of Russian Lawyers for Human Rights. And she is an openly bisexual transgender woman.

As she says,

"It isn't a matter of upbringing," Bast said. "It's nature. That's why I think the law against 'homosexual propaganda' is a law against children and one that targets certain social groups. It is a fascist law and nothing else."

Bast also spoke about knowing that she was a girl from age 10, and even going to school dances dressed in women's clothing, though when she was growing up in Soviet Russia, there were no depictions of LGBT people that she could look to for inspiration.

"You have to understand the complete lack of information on this subject," she explained. "According to statistics, there are thousands of people going through what I went through. Just imagine all the kids who have no idea what's happening to them. I never once met a homosexual in my childhood and only learned what a homosexual was when I was 14."

Having the information kept from her about people who were like her didn't prevent Masha from becoming her authentic self - it only made the journey there more difficult. I completely relate to that.

That's why this idea that you protect children by not letting them know LGBTQ people exist is so cruel and flawed. Because it demonizes queer kids - for both those kids themselves and everyone else.

You can read more about Transgender Activism in Russia in this fascinating article by Yana Sitnikova at Freedom Requires Wings, and find out more about Masha in this Advocate article by Sunnivie Brydum, "Russian Lawyer Comes Out as Trans In Protest of Anti-LGBT Laws"


Celebrating Anno and Masha seems incredibly important. As far as I know, they're both in Russia, and I have sharing information that is widely available online.

I have to speak out about them because their standing up -- being their authentic selves and speaking out -- is inspiring.

There are so many bi, trans and gender non-conforming people in Russia, right now. And we need to give them a voice.

Because Bisexual Russia, Transgender Russia and Gender-Queer Russia is something to celebrate!

Counter Programming The Olympics - 17 Days Of Celebrating Queer, Gay, Lesbian, Bi and Transgender Russians and Russian History Starts Friday!

It's something I've been thinking about for months, with the anti-gay laws in Russia and the upcoming winter Olympics on this collision course of injustice and prejudice, what can I do here on this blog to help make a difference?

I've signed petitions (lots of them.)

Boycotting the Olympics seems unfair to the athletes.

Moving the Olympics out of Russia (to someplace like Sweden) sounded best to me, but that didn't happen.

Pressuring the Olympic sponsors (looking at you, Coca-Cola and McDonalds) to speak up against the anti-gay laws (which activists are doing) is a great idea, but the big-money machinery of the Olympics churns on, seemingly uncaring of the rights of queer people in Russia (both Russian and foreign.)

But we do care. Millions of us.

And what we can do - each of us - is raise our voice!


Thousands of Swedes did just that, singing the Russian national anthem in the Stockholm Olympic Stadium, in support of Russian LGBTQ people. It's an event created by the group "Live and Let Love" and the video is very moving.



And I'll be raising my voice here. For 17 days, starting on February 7th and ending on February 23, for each day of the 2014 Winter Olympics, I'll be featuring a celebration of Queer Russia. Gay Russia. Lesbian Russia. Bi Russia. Transgender Russia. We'll be looking at people and history and celebrating just how Gay Russia has been, is, and will always be.

Since my website is geared for youth 11 years old and up, if I was in Russia, just sharing the history of LGBTQ Russians like I'm going to do would be illegal under their new laws. Mentioning that the famous Russian composer Tchaikovsky was gay is something for which I could be arrested. Fined. Even put in jail for up to two weeks. (A Russian newspaper was just fined under their laws for running an article about a middle school teacher who was fired for being gay.)

Yes, and Tchaikovsky was gay - he'll be featured on Friday! (He even had a gay brother.)

I'm grateful to live in the U.S.A. where I can speak out and stand up, but I think about all the LGBTQ people who aren't free to raise their voices. The ones in Russia. The ones in other countries where being yourself (if you're different from the heterosexual norm) is a crime.

And I know I need to RAISE MY VOICE.

Join me.

And together, we'll sing the glories of being authentic, and the power of Russian Pride.

Here's to a gay gay gay Olympic season!

(And an extra-special shout-out of "GOOD LUCK!" to the five athletes brave enough to be openly queer going into the Olympics!)

Namaste,
Lee