Press release from the The Organizing Committee of the International Queer Culture Festival:

September 16-25 of this year, the International Festival of Queer Culture is coming to St. Petersburg, Russia for the second time, this time under the slogan “the Art of Being Yourself”. This is a non-commercial project whose goal is to promote tolerance and freedom of self-expression, and to attract society’s attention to the problems of homophobia and transphobia in Russia.

Queer Culture Festival is one of the largest openly queer events in Russia. Last year, it attracted over 3000 people and now hopes to attract more attention, peacefully and lawfully, to the issues that affect LGBT people.

This year’s Festival gained much support from distinguished artists, politicians, journalists and other public figures. Among its supporters are Mayor of Berlin, Klaus Wowereit, British actor Stephen Fry, singer Lara Fabian, actor and filmmaker John Cameron Mitchell, Swedish singer Jay-Jay Johansson, special guest of the festival, and others.

The organizers are also very happy for all the Russian support they received this year. They thank Valeriy Panyushkin, well-known Russian journalist and writer, Artemiy Troickiy, one of the leading specialists in modern music in Russia, and other public persons who help to bring the issue of homophobia to the heart of the Russian society.

“The very fact that it even occurred to someone to organize a festival for tolerance and against homophobia is evidence to the fact that homophobia in Russia exists and that tolerance in Russia is scarce… I would like to wish the audiences of the Queer Festival to have an open mind… I wish the organizers and participants for their Festival to one day lose its relevance, so that there is no more need to prove that every person has the right to love whomever they want, play any music or write any poetry they want,” says Valeriy Panyushkin.
“The Festival’s slogan is not only a call to every individual to be confident of him or herself and to accept differences of others, but also calls for a fair society built upon mutual respect, for a society that sees diversity as an enrichment and not as a blemish,” says the Mayor of Berlin. “I wish the International Queer Culture Festival in St. Petersburg much success.”

Last year, the Festival went on without any obstacles from the Russian authorities, right extremist groups, or any other interruptions.

“We think the Festival is a positive and valuable experience for all of St. Petersburg and Russia, not just the LGBT community. Our goal is to make it happen. If it’s not allowed to proceed, it would be a loss for the city. Our message is that of tolerance and respect for human rights and each other - that should not be too scary,” says Polina Savchenko, the Festival coordinator.

Program of the Festival includes seminars and discussions, musical concerts, poetical slam, photo exhibition, and other events. Sweden, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Israel, Armenia and other countries will be represented.

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The organizer of the Festival is the St. Petersburg LGBT organization Coming Out with the support by the Swedish human rights organisation Civil Rights Defenders. Coming Out is also a part of the ILGA-Europe project Enhancing pluralism and combating discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in Russia.

Find the complete Program here

Find photos for the media here

Contacts:

The Organizing Committee of the International Queer Culture Festival
Polina Savchenko
+7 (904) 609 9706 (cell)
+7 (812) 313 9369 (office)