18.03.2014
In November 2013, “Coming Out” LGBT organization conducted an Internet survey of same-sex families with children. Their anonymity and safety was the highest priority for the researcher, sociologist Alisa Zhabenko. The situation around Russian homosexual community remains tense; not only are same-sex families claimed illegitimate, but they recently have been considered inappropriate for raising children at all.
98 people have participated in the survey. 10% of them are raising adopted children. In 36% of families children were conceived in the prior heterosexual relations, and 54% of couples used the new reproductive technologies. The donors in 44% of cases were unaware of the children, whereas in 23% of families, fathers participated in raising children, though most of them were only partly involved (16%).
30% of families revealed that they completely conceal their sexual orientation everywhere and from everyone. 68% came out to some people and at some places that they considered to be safe. Only 3 % of respondents said that they are open as a homosexual family. 49% of respondents said that after the “homosexual propaganda law,” they have changed their coming out strategy and now tend to reveal their orientation much more rarely.
Late 2000 were years of high hopes for LGBT in Russia, with LGBT organizations emerging in bigger cities, and more information available. Many LGBT started to have families with children, thinking that tolerance towards LGBT would be developing further. 62% of our respondents have children under 5 y.o, conceived and born in this time of relative freedom. Introduction of such families at schools and kindergartens is bound to become an acute issue in the near future. “Coming Out” LGBT Organization is deeply concerned that both these children and their parents are certain to be at risk of being discriminated for their "illegitimate" type of family.