"A Hard Place To Be Gay..."

It's pretty clear that it's hard to be gay in "Mother Russia."  Anti-gay laws being passed at the local and national level, violent street protests against gays and a culture of hate and fear pervade the country.  Last week, one man on the inside dared to come out... This is his story:

Gay Russian TV Personality Reflects On His Firing And His Country

By Sergei L. Loiko | Los Angeles Times
February 23, 2013

MOSCOW — The day last month that Russian lawmakers gave initial approval to a bill establishing fines for spreading "propaganda" supporting homosexuality among minors, leading Russian media personality Anton Krasovsky was fired after publicly revealing that he is gay.

While anchoring a late-night TV show on Jan. 25, Krasovsky, 37, said that not only is he gay, he is also "as human as President [Vladimir] Putin, Prime Minister [Dmitry] Medvedev" and the members of the parliament.

Krasovsky, who served as editor in chief of Kontr TV, an Internet and cable television network launched by the Kremlin in December, said in an interview recently that human rights and liberties are violated more and more and that "mutual hatred and resentment is being instilled in the Russian society from above."

Read the rest of Anton's story here: The Los Angeles Times

"Fear Eats the Soul"