(no subject)

[superslayer18.livejournal.com]

This question isn't really specifically about the language so much as culture I guess.

I'm going to (hopefully) be spending the summer in St. Petersburg doing a Russian acceleration program that my school offers (it's supposed to be really great, and I'm really excited about it!).

Now, I'm going to a school (Yale) with a pretty liberal environment, so me being gay really isn't much of an issue and I feel comfortable not having to watch what I mention in conversation etc.

I'm wondering what that's going to be like around St. Petersburg (specifically the St. Pete. State University area, by the Winter Palace I think). Obviously how people react to homosexuals is entirely dependent on the person himself, but if someone could give me some general insight, that'd really be appreciated. Russian culture is sometimes branded as a little homophobic, but that might not be true in St. Pete or around the university area.

Any insight on gay life in Russian in general would actually be pretty appreciated (as well as any words/phrases that are absolute NOs to say etc).

Thanks so much! (Mods, if you want to delete this because it isn't specifically about language, I understand)

Comments

[prosto-los.livejournal.com]

Quick search has brought up this (spb is a short for St. Petersburg)
http://community.livejournal.com/gay_spb/
Maybe they can answer your question better.

[wolk-off.livejournal.com]

1. Unlike the U.S., area does not really matter. Things in St.Pete are pretty much the same everywhere (bad enough if you are not too careful.) Of course, one's chance to have an adventure are better when it is dark, and in low-life 5-storey residential neighborhoods rather than in brightly lit tourist places, but it is Nevsky Prospekt (the main street) where skinheads kill most foreigners in St.Pete.
2. IMHO, in Russia, nobody really cares about you being gay if you don't really advertise it. But I may be wrong since it is not my personal experience.

[archaicos.livejournal.com]

Yeah, people are homophobic. But as long as you don't present yourself as gay (whether by saying something, wearing something gayish or acting strangely compared to most of other men), you should be OK.

[platonicus.livejournal.com]

The main idea is 'As far as you hide it, we don't care'

[branwen.livejournal.com]

I've never been to Russia, but one of my friends who is from St. Petersburg looks and acts kind of gay even though he's not, but other Russians don't seem to think he does, so maybe if you don't go right out and say it they may not think you are...

[lovimoment.livejournal.com]

This is just a difference between what is perceived as "gay" in different cultures. One my gay friends had the hardest time figuring out which men in SPB would welcome being hit on and which wouldn't - and as a gay man, he has a very finely tuned "gaydar." It took him a few months to sort it out.

[wolfie-18.livejournal.com]

Ditto. St. Petersburg is a Russian city like any other. Chances are people will kill you first for being a foreigner and second for being gay. But don't be worried about the murders, they happen rarely.

There's a "hangout" in St. Petersburg that's considered very liberal. That is, maybe not everyone's gay but even if you are they wouldn't care. Dumskaya Ulitsa, on the left side of Gostiny Dvor if you're facing Nevsky Prospekt. Along that street, there's Central Station (for gays) and further down the street that's at, next to a Kofe Khauz, there's Greshniki, another gay club. It's ok, I've been there few times, but too loud to have any conversation.

Words that, if said about you, should make you be careful: пидарас, педераст. Worst ones in Russian language.

But, honestly speaking, some straight Petersburgians act gayer than regular gay people anyway. They call it "European."

[unlightened.livejournal.com]

Generally educated people don't care much about the fact that you are gay, if you don't talk about it too much. Homosexuals just make some people irritated. Some people will stop communicating, some will laugh, some will say swearwords, but surely you won't be beaten or, God save us, killed (of course, if you will not shout "I'm a gay!" when walking through a criminal district at midnight :) ).

[unlightened.livejournal.com]

I would note that majority of cases of killing foreigners in Russia are racial killings, committed by skinheads or neonazi. Nobody hates foreigners just because they are from outside the border :)