How a group of activists made a safe dating service for Russian trans people.
Have you ever wondered what it’s like to search for a relationship in a country that’s made it illegal to talk about who you are? Today’s post allows a glimpse into the realities of dating for trans people in Russia. We also spoke with @centre_t_ru about their matchmaking initiative, which made this complicated process much easier!
You can follow “Centre T” on Twitter/X, where they post about Russian trans rights activism in English —
“Queer Svaha” is a project made by our friends from “Centre T” — the largest organisation supporting trans people in Russia. It’s a matchmaking service that allows them to safely find friends, romantic partners and everything in between.
How does it work?
A trans person offers information about themself: their work, hobbies, goals and preferences in partner — anything that doesn’t deanonymize them. They then go through a short screening with one of the moderators, and their form gets published in Queer Svaha’s telegram channel. Anyone interested — cis or trans — can respond to the form, go through the screening and get connected with the form’s author.
Why is it necessary?
Nixi (she/they), curator of the project, explains:
”It’s dangerous to talk openly about your orientation and gender identity in Russia. You risk facing open aggression and violence even from your own family. Also, after the so-called “international LGBT movement” was deemed an extremist organization in Russia, all dating sites became unavailable for queer people. Offline events also ceased to exist because of concerns for the safety of LGBTQ+ participants.
Moreover, there’s the phenomenon of “fake dates,” where a queer person meets with someone they found online and is beaten or even killed as a result. There were cases of homophobes and transphobes cooperating with the police to “catch” an LGBTQ+ person. I personally helped a trans girl urgently escape Russia after she went on a fake date with a law enforcer.
In all of this, trans people are the most vulnerable. Many think it’s impossible for them to find a partner in these conditions.
This is the problem that “Queer Svaha” solves — it gives people the opportunity to meet each other safely, to write openly about who they are without facing judgment or violence in Russia.”
In the first year of its existence, “Queer Svaha” has published 440 applications and processed over 2000 responses. As a result, 52 romantic and/or queerplatonic relationships have started — and this isn’t even counting all the friendships that people have made.
The project will continue to help trans people find connections in the years to come.