[LINK] "'Sorry mum, I’m still gay': Russian club helps parents accept sexual preference"

[rfmcdonald]

The Guardian</> shares an article by one Ilnur Sharafiyev looking at a St. Petersburg equivalent to PFLAG, a private club that tries to reconcile the families of non-heterosexual Russians with their children. It is a sign of hope, but it also sounds bleak.

The parents’ club has a few rules: you can only speak if you’re holding the navy dragon, a soft toy that has grown shabby in the club’s four-year existence; no interrupting is allowed; and phones must be switched off.

In an unassuming building in the centre of St Petersburg, families of Russian gay men and women gather each month, hoping for understanding and reconciliation.

Although the group is ostensibly for parents, they are far outnumbered by sons and daughters who have faced the difficulties of coming out in a homophobic country. Not one father is present.

“Mum fell seriously ill recently and she allowed me to care for her,” says Sergei. “At least she didn’t yell at me, like before: ‘Stop that, [you] gay, get away from me, don’t touch my things!’”

Seventeen people sit in the circle listening to him, wearing badges with handwritten names. “Now that mum is no longer rejecting me, it means that she [has started to] care again,” Sergei continues. For now though, he doesn’t speak to his mother often.