Russians Ekaterina Nenakhova (30) and Olga Osipova (25) say they were never able to live their relationship freely in their home country. It was only when they landed in Brazil two months ago that the writers began to lose their fear of showing their love in public. The two tell Marie Claire how becoming viral on Brazilian TikTok gave them the courage to emigrate for good.
The couple met in 2021 and soon began dating. “It’s a classic ‘dyke’ story,” jokes Ekaterina, who participated in an LGBT story contest in which Olga was a judge. “I knew who it was because she [Ekaterina] was very popular in the queer community, she even had a YouTube channel. I read the text anonymously so as not to influence the process. But even so, I realized it was hers. It was the only one that talked about the body, about safety, about being who you are,” reveals her partner.
Olguinha, as her girlfriend calls her, took the initiative by sending a message to the writer right after the contest. The flirtation worked and, about two months later, they were already living together. However, the simple fact of being in love became a constant challenge under the country’s laws.
Since 2013, there has been a law in Russia that prohibits “propaganda” that could promote “non-traditional sexual relationships and/or preferences,” under the justification of protecting “traditional values.” “ What happened when we met was that all LGBT activities, for example, were restricted to adults. There were even gay clubs in Moscow, which were more restricted, but they existed,” says Ekaterina.
With the war in Ukraine, repression has intensified: President Vladimir Putin signed a package of laws that further tightened control over the country’s LGBT population. The new legislation prohibits the dissemination of any act or information that the government considers to be “promotion of homosexuality”, whether in public spaces, films or online platforms.
“The climate was already dangerous, but it got a lot worse. Even back then, we never kissed in the street, but now it’s even worse. Before, there were some initiatives, I had my own channel, then I did a podcast with a friend about the queer community , and we had to put up warnings saying that it was for adults only,” the writer recalls.
After the new law, any form of expression became “impossible” for them. “A flag or a symbol cannot be displayed in Russia. Even something as simple as a cake with a rainbow on it can be seen as ‘propaganda’. In the last year of our life in Russia, we basically lived in constant fear.”
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