18———20
November
For the first time, the Saint Petersburg pride festival will be held online — a place where everyone can be themselves without any fear. Expect many interesting events: lectures, interviews, public talks about rights, identity, gender, sexuality, and, of course, relocation.
18+
This year, we will cross the geographical borders to unite all Russian-speaking LGBTQ+ people from across the world in order to show ourselves and everyone else that we are different, we are strong, and we are here. And we deserve a better life and equal rights.
FESTIVAL
THEME
FESTIVAL
THEME
FESTIVAL
THEME
In this difficult year of separation and limitations it’s more important than ever for us to unite and feel that we are stronger together, no matter where we are.
Queerfest 2022 is focused on borders, on stepping outside the norm, transitioning from one state to another; on preserving the integrity and identity despite the difficulties and obstacles.
How do we cross the physical and internal borders? How do we keep balance under the pressure of more and more limitations? How do we stay united and connected in the times of separation? Let’s try and find the answers together.
In this difficult year of separation and limitations it’s more important than ever for us to unite and feel that we are stronger together, no matter where we are.
Queerfest 2022 is focused on borders, on stepping outside the norm, transitioning from one state to another; on preserving the integrity and identity despite the difficulties and obstacles.
How do we cross the physical and internal borders? How do we keep balance under the pressure of more and more limitations? How do we stay united and connected in the times of separation? Let’s try and find the answers together.
PARTICIPANTS

Anton Danilov
Wonderzine editor, previously editor of Out (‘Otkritiye’) magazine, openly gay. Visiting lecturer at the HSE University (2019), speaker for the Crisis Reporting Project Group (2020). Anton has written articles for Meduza, The Village, Afisha, The Blueprint, and other media. As a journalist, he is interested in social justice and the position of different marginalized groups in society. In March 2022, due to the new ‘discreditation’ and ‘fake news’ laws, he moved to Tbilisi with his partner. The couple are planning to relocate to Germany in the near future.

Maria Latsinskaia
Journalist and editor, Maria has collaborated with various media outlets. She writes about travel, business, and LGBTQ+ rights.
She’s been heavily engaged with queer content writing since 2018. Maria started a Telegram channel under the name Lesbian Lobby which deals with female queer culture. For two years, she’s worked for a queer media Out (‘Otkritiye’) before the project was discontinued. In 2020, she participated in the very first digital pride event in Russia, which garnered support from many celebrities and influencers. In the spring of 2021, she produced a photography project for the Lesbian Visibility Day, which included journalist Elena Kostuchenko, writer Oksana Vasyakina, podcast host Elena Dogagina, and other lesbians. Maria is the host of LGBTQ+ podcast Naraspashku (‘Wide Open’) in which she and her co-host talk about the lives of queer people. She runs a queer magazine For Yourself (‘Na sebya’) and writes autofiction—she’s been published in Neznaniye, Autovirus, and Prochteniye. Since 2019, she’s been living in Tbilisi, Georgia, with her girlfriend and two black cats. She’s written several articles about life in Georgia for different media (such as Meduza, TJ, vc.ru, Forbes, Afisha Daily).
She’s been heavily engaged with queer content writing since 2018. Maria started a Telegram channel under the name Lesbian Lobby which deals with female queer culture. For two years, she’s worked for a queer media Out (‘Otkritiye’) before the project was discontinued. In 2020, she participated in the very first digital pride event in Russia, which garnered support from many celebrities and influencers. In the spring of 2021, she produced a photography project for the Lesbian Visibility Day, which included journalist Elena Kostuchenko, writer Oksana Vasyakina, podcast host Elena Dogagina, and other lesbians. Maria is the host of LGBTQ+ podcast Naraspashku (‘Wide Open’) in which she and her co-host talk about the lives of queer people. She runs a queer magazine For Yourself (‘Na sebya’) and writes autofiction—she’s been published in Neznaniye, Autovirus, and Prochteniye. Since 2019, she’s been living in Tbilisi, Georgia, with her girlfriend and two black cats. She’s written several articles about life in Georgia for different media (such as Meduza, TJ, vc.ru, Forbes, Afisha Daily).

Aleksandr Ulyanchenko
Practicing narrative and emotion-image psychologist with over six years of experience. Aleksandr has helped dozens of people and families, hosted training courses, lectures, and other events. He has experience in social, cultural, educational and activist work. Currently, he has a private practice and a blog on psychology, alongside visual arts and volunteering as a therapist for Coming Out.

Oksana Kushlyaieva
Theater critic and historian, editor of online media The Flying Critic, member of the panel of judges for the national theater award The Golden Mask. Editor and one of the authors of the collection of essays titled Young Directors. 21st Century. Her works have been published in magazines such as Theater, Saint Petersburg Theater Magazine, Art of Cinema, Strastnoy Boulevard, and others. Member of the Association of Theater Critics. Expert for the Saint Petersburg Youth Award Breakthrough.
Over the years, she’s worked as an expert and curator of festivals including Lyubimovka, Krasnoyarks Theater Spring, Novosibirsk Transit, Eva’s Ribs (Saint Petersburg), Stories (Subbota Theater, Saint Petersburg), Mask Plus. She’s been in charge of the educational programs at the Bolshoi Drama Theater as part of a ROSATOM project. Winner of the Saint Petersburg Government Youth Award.
Over the years, she’s worked as an expert and curator of festivals including Lyubimovka, Krasnoyarks Theater Spring, Novosibirsk Transit, Eva’s Ribs (Saint Petersburg), Stories (Subbota Theater, Saint Petersburg), Mask Plus. She’s been in charge of the educational programs at the Bolshoi Drama Theater as part of a ROSATOM project. Winner of the Saint Petersburg Government Youth Award.

Pyotr Voskresenskiy
LGBTQ+ activist from Saint Petersburg. In 2014, he created a project of queer history tours around Saint Petersburg, which he presented at Queerfest 2016. Later on, he came up with a similar idea to do such a tour at the Hermitage. In 2022, he opened the very first museum of queer art in Saint Petersburg.

Natasha Borenko
Playwright, author of theater projects, teacher, co-host of gender-inclusive writing workshops which follow in the footsteps of the Bogatyrki Na Stryome (‘Bogatyrkas on the Lookout’) podcast. She works in social, documentary, and participatory theater. Her original plays and adaptations have been presented in theaters across Russia and were selected for several theater festivals (First Table Read, Lyubimovka, Next Stage Europe/lit:potsdam). She was awarded a stipend from the Bundeskanzler-Stipendium Alexander von Humboldt Foundation program (“Gender-inclusive theater as a means of peacemaking”), International Forum Theatertreffen Festival, European Theatre Convention Artist Residency.

Vasiliy Romanov
Composer and English teacher, previously a journalist. In Russia, he worked in media (from part-time journalist to editor in chief to chief executive officer) and in non-profit, helping organizations and initiatives to interact with media more efficiently and to represent themselves on social media. He moved to New York in 2019 just a few months before the city and the state became the center of the pandemic, and is currently living there.

Misha Melekhovets
Developer, data analyst, non-binary person. For the past three years, Misha has been providing financial support to human rights organizations in Russia and recently began volunteering for a non-profit. They get involved with gender and queer studies whenever the possibility arises. Misha is working in IT, data analysis, and CAT.

Anton Danilov
Wonderzine editor, previously editor of Out (‘Otkritiye’) magazine, openly gay. Visiting lecturer at the HSE University (2019), speaker for the Crisis Reporting Project Group (2020). Anton has written articles for Meduza, The Village, Afisha, The Blueprint, and other media. As a journalist, he is interested in social justice and the position of different marginalized groups in society. In March 2022, due to the new ‘discreditation’ and ‘fake news’ laws, he moved to Tbilisi with his partner. The couple are planning to relocate to Germany in the near future.

Maria Latsinskaia
Journalist and editor, Maria has collaborated with various media outlets. She writes about travel, business, and LGBTQ+ rights.
She’s been heavily engaged with queer content writing since 2018. Maria started a Telegram channel under the name Lesbian Lobby which deals with female queer culture. For two years, she’s worked for a queer media Out (‘Otkritiye’) before the project was discontinued. In 2020, she participated in the very first digital pride event in Russia, which garnered support from many celebrities and influencers. In the spring of 2021, she produced a photography project for the Lesbian Visibility Day, which included journalist Elena Kostuchenko, writer Oksana Vasyakina, podcast host Elena Dogagina, and other lesbians. Maria is the host of LGBTQ+ podcast Naraspashku (‘Wide Open’) in which she and her co-host talk about the lives of queer people. She runs a queer magazine For Yourself (‘Na sebya’) and writes autofiction—she’s been published in Neznaniye, Autovirus, and Prochteniye. Since 2019, she’s been living in Tbilisi, Georgia, with her girlfriend and two black cats. She’s written several articles about life in Georgia for different media (such as Meduza, TJ, vc.ru, Forbes, Afisha Daily).
She’s been heavily engaged with queer content writing since 2018. Maria started a Telegram channel under the name Lesbian Lobby which deals with female queer culture. For two years, she’s worked for a queer media Out (‘Otkritiye’) before the project was discontinued. In 2020, she participated in the very first digital pride event in Russia, which garnered support from many celebrities and influencers. In the spring of 2021, she produced a photography project for the Lesbian Visibility Day, which included journalist Elena Kostuchenko, writer Oksana Vasyakina, podcast host Elena Dogagina, and other lesbians. Maria is the host of LGBTQ+ podcast Naraspashku (‘Wide Open’) in which she and her co-host talk about the lives of queer people. She runs a queer magazine For Yourself (‘Na sebya’) and writes autofiction—she’s been published in Neznaniye, Autovirus, and Prochteniye. Since 2019, she’s been living in Tbilisi, Georgia, with her girlfriend and two black cats. She’s written several articles about life in Georgia for different media (such as Meduza, TJ, vc.ru, Forbes, Afisha Daily).

Aleksandr Ulyanchenko
Practicing narrative and emotion-image psychologist with over six years of experience. Aleksandr has helped dozens of people and families, hosted training courses, lectures, and other events. He has experience in social, cultural, educational and activist work. Currently, he has a private practice and a blog on psychology, alongside visual arts and volunteering as a therapist for Coming Out.

Оксана Кушляева
Theater critic and historian, editor of online media The Flying Critic, member of the panel of judges for the national theater award The Golden Mask. Editor and one of the authors of the collection of essays titled Young Directors. 21st Century. Her works have been published in magazines such as Theater, Saint Petersburg Theater Magazine, Art of Cinema, Strastnoy Boulevard, and others. Member of the Association of Theater Critics. Expert for the Saint Petersburg Youth Award Breakthrough.
Over the years, she’s worked as an expert and curator of festivals including Lyubimovka, Krasnoyarks Theater Spring, Novosibirsk Transit, Eva’s Ribs (Saint Petersburg), Stories (Subbota Theater, Saint Petersburg), Mask Plus. She’s been in charge of the educational programs at the Bolshoi Drama Theater as part of a ROSATOM project. Winner of the Saint Petersburg Government Youth Award.
Over the years, she’s worked as an expert and curator of festivals including Lyubimovka, Krasnoyarks Theater Spring, Novosibirsk Transit, Eva’s Ribs (Saint Petersburg), Stories (Subbota Theater, Saint Petersburg), Mask Plus. She’s been in charge of the educational programs at the Bolshoi Drama Theater as part of a ROSATOM project. Winner of the Saint Petersburg Government Youth Award.

Pyotr Voskresenskiy
LGBTQ+ activist from Saint Petersburg. In 2014, he created a project of queer history tours around Saint Petersburg, which he presented at Queerfest 2016. Later on, he came up with a similar idea to do such a tour at the Hermitage. In 2022, he opened the very first museum of queer art in Saint Petersburg.

Natasha Borenko
Playwright, author of theater projects, teacher, co-host of gender-inclusive writing workshops which follow in the footsteps of the Bogatyrki Na Stryome (‘Bogatyrkas on the Lookout’) podcast. She works in social, documentary, and participatory theater. Her original plays and adaptations have been presented in theaters across Russia and were selected for several theater festivals (First Table Read, Lyubimovka, Next Stage Europe/lit:potsdam). She was awarded a stipend from the Bundeskanzler-Stipendium Alexander von Humboldt Foundation program (“Gender-inclusive theater as a means of peacemaking”), International Forum Theatertreffen Festival, European Theatre Convention Artist Residency.

Vasiliy Romanov
Composer and English teacher, previously a journalist. In Russia, he worked in media (from part-time journalist to editor in chief to chief executive officer) and in non-profit, helping organizations and initiatives to interact with media more efficiently and to represent themselves on social media. He moved to New York in 2019 just a few months before the city and the state became the center of the pandemic, and is currently living there.

Misha Melekhovets
Developer, data analyst, non-binary person. For the past three years, Misha has been providing financial support to human rights organizations in Russia and recently began volunteering for a non-profit. They get involved with gender and queer studies whenever the possibility arises. Misha is working in IT, data analysis, and CAT.
Wherever you are, we want to
hear and see you, and we welcome
you to attend our events
Wherever you are, we want to
hear and see you, and we welcome
you to attend our events
Program
November 18–20
Queer art gallery, Crossing Borders photos and videos
Queer works of classic art from curator and founder of the Saint Petersburg queer museum Pyotr Voskresenskiy