I anticipated that most Muscovites would be fine with us. The ones who weren’t okay with homosexuality just wanted us to leave them alone, which is fine by me. One fella stood out to me, saying he’d slap his son in the ass if his son was gay, which inclines me to think he’s taking the piss (trolling).

I believe that Saint Petersburg would have similar attitudes, or be more accepting. Same with Yekaterinburg. Some other cities and oblasts too. Certainly not all of it.

I’m not gonna pretend that Russia is some form of paradise for gays. No gay marriage, no civil partnerships, not even a form of limited domestic partnerships. Not even at a local or state level, despite being a federation. And compared to other European countries, yes Russia does poorly. But I’d rather live in Russia than in most countries in Africa, the Caribbean and the Middle East. But if I had to live in Russia, I know I’d feel safer in certain areas than in others. Also, I’d rather live here in my country, because we have same sex marriage and full adoption rights.