![european gay men videos european gay men videos](https://fra.europa.eu/sites/default/files/styles/fra_publication_cover/public/fra_images/fra-eu-lgbt-survey-main-results_cover.jpg)
![european gay men videos european gay men videos](https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/150605150757-10-gay-marriage.jpg)
Regina Elsner, an activist with Quarteera, an NGO that provides support for gay Russians in Germany and helped Pavel find a lawyer, says her organization previously received requests for information about asylum from Russians abroad about once every two months. Asylum seekers can spend years waiting for a decision, and there were no known cases of gay Russians being granted refugee status in Germany.Īlthough there is little in the way of official statistics, activists say an increasingly antigay environment, backed by legislation prohibiting gay "propaganda" - which effectively bans public shows of affection among same-sex couples or the promotion of gay rights - has caused interest in asylum among Russia’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community to rise sharply.Ī ruling in November by the European Court of Justice (ECJ), which said gays could not be advised to be more discreet in their home countries as an alternative to asylum, has given new impetus to asylum seekers from gay and lesbian communities. "If anyone at the center had found out, I would have gathered my belongings and left," he says.Īctivists and friends advised Pavel to seek other avenues to leave Russia. Among conservative Afghans and Chechens in the asylum dormitory in the northern city of Kiel, Pavel was certain he was the only one whose request to stay in Europe was based on sexual orientation. BERLIN - Pavel had been openly gay for 10 years before he left his native Novosibirsk last year.īut when the 27-year-old Russian doctor, who now goes by Pavel instead of his given name to protect his family's privacy, arrived in Germany to ask for asylum in April 2013, he knew he needed to get back in the closet.