Authors

Discussion

Since March 2022, Russian citizens have flooded Georgia, fleeing predicted financial collapse and military conscription. For LGBTQ+ activists, the country has functioned as a place of refuge in the face of Russian state homophobia and political repression. Without permanent residency and facing increasing anti-Russian sentiment, many of these activists are “waiting for the revolution”—or working to hasten it—in order to return home and build Russian democracy.

As a part of my anthropological research on Russian LGBTQ+ communities, this paper asks how activists in Georgia continue their work abroad. Despite challenges, how have they built communities and structures of support for one another? What role have russkiye puzyri, or “Russian bubbles,” played in developing their sense of belonging in Georgia? How do activists relate their experiences to previous generations of Russian and Soviet dissidents and emigrees? As the Russian state has used the repression of the LGBTQ+ movement as a “testing ground” for broader repressions against civil society, how can other Russian activists draw lessons from the experiences of the LGBTQ+ community?

This paper seeks to contribute to literature on diaspora communities and belonging. It examines the impact that migration has had on Russian civil society and pro-democracy activism through the case study of the Russian LGBTQ+ community.