Moscow publishing house Individuum has released a Russian translation of the book "Red Closet" by historian Rustam Alexander about the life of homosexuals in the Soviet Union. The book was published at a time when this kind of research was effectively banned by the hastily adopted law on "LGBT propaganda" in Russia. The author talks about the times when Soviet gays lived in unbearable conditions. In 1934, an article of the Criminal Code was introduced in the USSR declaring voluntary sexual intercourse between a man and a man a crime. It existed for almost 60 years and was repealed in Russia only in 1993. The book contains stories of Russian homosexuals who became victims of homophobia: either they were imprisoned on charges of sodomy, like the famous singer Vadim Kozin, or were forced to live in an invisible prison because they considered their desires unnatural, hid them from their loved ones and tried unsuccessfully to be cured. From simple workers to pop stars, they all found themselves locked in a hostile environment, but even in such unbearable conditions they sought ways to survive and be happy.

Rustam Alexander was born in Russia and now lives in Sydney. He collected materials for his book in the archives of the Russian Federation and Ukraine.

Among its characters are a Scottish communist who wrote a daring letter to Stalin, an eccentric KGB lieutenant who turned in his lovers to the secret service, an enthusiastic doctor who stubbornly tried to "cure" homosexuality, and a Soviet "patient zero" who contracted HIV in Tanzania.

But the main character can probably be called the sanctimonious and prejudiced Soviet society, incapable of talking about any sexuality, especially "deviant" sexuality.

“Closed combines careful and professional analysis of sources -

and a fascinating narrative that reads like a novel and cannot leave you indifferent” (Ella Rossman, gender historian)