Like other gay teenagers in Russia, Maxim Moiseyev grappled with his identity alone, frightened and uninformed. Adults either ignored him or admonished him. Classmates reviled him. And a new law that forbids minors from hearing anything positive about homosexuality has only made life harder.
Maxim, a 16-year-old Muscovite, is among the few Russian teenagers who dare to openly identify as gay. He first did so at age 13, when he had nothing more to lose. His mother had just died. She had been found beaten and drowned in a pond. His parents had divorced when he was 3, and he went to live with his grandmother.
"I changed," said Maxim, a dark-haired boy with an earnest expression. "I was afraid when I was younger, but when my mom died I opened up. I didn't care when people called me dirty names."