'Their Lives Depend on the Attitude of Those Who Surround Them': Understanding Transgender People in Soviet/Post-Soviet Russia, 1988-1993

• In Event: Perestroika and Its Queer Discontents: Mobilizing Social Advocacy in the Late Soviet Union

Abstract

From the mid-1980s, with the declaration of "openness," homosexuality gained significant attention from journalists, medical professionals, and the public in Russia. One of the reasons for the widespread concern about this issue was the spread of HIV, compounded by the fact that homosexuality was still considered a criminal offense, which could impede a more effective battle against HIV. The perspectives of transgender people, who were even more marginalized in public awareness than gays and lesbians, are nevertheless documented on the pages of Soviet and post-Soviet central and regional press. This paper aims to reconstruct the main lines of social justice advocacy for trans people and place it within the broader political context of perestroika and post-Soviet Russia.

Author

• I R