The 9th annual Russian pride festival QUEERFEST, organized by “Coming Out” LGBT group, will take place in St. Petersburg September 14-24.

QUEERFEST’s road through the nine years has been rocky, most years everything was thrown in its path to prevent it from happening (thug attacks, police pressure, venue closures, fake bomb threats), while some years have been peaceful, allowing organizers to concentrate on the quality of the programming.

This year, the festival organizers are switching focus from combatting the system to the importance of people – their experience, their uniqueness, their will to live full lives.

10 days of the festival events – lectures, workshops, body practices, and concerts - are united through one common topic of how a human destiny unfolds. It is going to be very personal: each day will uncover stories of people who live their lives and look for happiness right here and now, regardless of the difficult environment they live in.

“Where Love is Illegal”, a project by the world famous human rights photographer Robin Hammond, brought by QUEERFEST to Russia, exposes the discriminatory gender politics of heteronormative societies, and how far it can go. Cameroon, Lebanon, Malawi, Malaysia, Russia, Tunisia, Uganda, South Africa, and Jamaica: love stories turn into stories of survival when captured in countries where homosexual relations and other alternative identities are banned legally or publicly. Read more via Queerfest