As of 2024, being openly gay, lesbian, queer or transgender in Russia is a criminal offense. The government has proclaimed LBGT movement “an extremist organization,” and any association with it, including an old Instagram rainbow picture, may result in a prison sentence. Gender transition has been entirely banned by law; transgender people are afraid of going to a doctor for a simple medical examination, because they can be reported to police. Moreover, Russian agents are bankrolling and supporting anti-LGBTQ movements in countries all over the world, from Uganda to Poland, trying to promote the Kremlin's agenda of “traditional values.” This is another Putin’s war, and even though it’s fought not with bombs and tanks, but with ideas and money, it still has real victims and horrific impact.

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Why does the Kremlin do this? What means does it use to make people believe in its values of hate and inequality? And how do LGBTQ people survive in Putin’s Russia, building their communities underground? In her book, Sasha Kazantseva, one the leading Russian authors and researchers writing about gender issues, shows the roots of Putin’s anti-LBGTQ agenda, traces its influence both in Russia and around the world (in post-Soviet countries, Europe, Africa, South America), and tells personal stories of people affected by these discriminatory policies and people who fight them. Using in-depth interviews with LBGTQ-people and activists, open-source data, and extensive research, Kazantseva aims to create an engaging and emotional narrative that paints a full picture of the Russian aggression towards gender and sexuality freedom and shows that the repercussions of this aggression not only affect people inside the country, but can be felt worldwide. 

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