The late 1980s in the USSR were a whirlwind of change. Glasnost, or openness, had led to a loosening of censorship and an increase in public activism. This created a space for the first queer rights movement in the USSR to emerge.

One of the key figures in this movement was Roman Kalinin. In 1989, he launched “Tema,” the first gay and lesbian newspaper in the USSR, giving voice and community to a previously silenced population.

Kalinin’s activism didn’t stop there. In 1990, he co-founded the Moscow Gay and Lesbian Union together with Evgenia Debryanskaya. The union organized protests and demonstrations and lobbied for the repeal of anti-gay laws.

That same year, Kalinin and Debryanskaya co-founded the Libertarian Party. Kalinin was nominated by the party to run for president. Although he was not registered to run due to his young age, his campaign was a significant PR stunt. It brought attention to the existence of LGBTQ+ people in the USSR and their struggle for equality.

1991 witnessed a groundbreaking moment for LGBTQ+ rights in the USSR. With the support of American activists, the first series of pride events took place in Moscow and St. Petersburg. The two-week festival, dubbed “the Soviet Stonewall,” included film screenings, symposiums, and even the first queer rights demonstrations in the country.

Nearly 20,000 people, many seeing LGBTQ+ representation for the first time, participated in that momentous celebration. While this number may seem small compared to modern pride events, that first step was a crucial turning point for queer rights in Russia.

In 1993, homosexuality was finally decriminalized. This marked a significant victory for the LGBTQ+ movement in the country and led to the dissolution of the Moscow Gay and Lesbian Union.

Many activists believed that the fight was over. As Roman Kalinin said in 2001, “Our rights are actually protected now. We have queer culture, lesbian clubs, gay writers being published… But if, God forbid, a political problem arises, we will unite again. Today, Russia tends to the needs of LGBTQ+ people better than some Western countries.”

However, over two decades down the line, that progress proved to be short-lived. In 2024, the Russian government pronounced the LGBTQ+ community an “extremist movement,” silencing millions of citizens and forcing activists into hiding. Despite this setback, the first Soviet Pride remains a powerful symbol of courage and resilience.