For sports fan Aleksandr Agapov, the FIFA World Cup being held in Russia was an opportunity to fight for visibility.
In a short documentary produced by European football publication Goal, Agapov, president of the Russian LGBT Sport Federation, opens up about the struggle of being openly LGBTIQ+ in Russia.
“We wanted to use it to be open to be visible, to show there are LGBTI football fans, who love football, who want to play football openly without discrimination,” he said.
Agapov, who made headlines when he unveiled a large rainbow flag at the tournament's opening match, said the gesture was about testing the protections promised to the LGBTIQ+ community for the duration of the festival.
“I should follow what I preach," he said.
“Only [by] being visible, we can change the things.”
While filming the short video, Agapov is interrupted by local law enforcement.
“They say that they’re here to protect us from any homophobes and so on," Agapov said.
He continued: “And I tend to believe it is so, but, you know, only because this is the World Cup and LGBTI issues are in the focus of the media.”
The activist described life in Russia as "really hard" for LGBTIQ+ people.
"People are becoming nervous all the time,” he said.
He continued: "People know where they live and what consequences can happen."
“If you are straight you can walk hand in hand in the street, right? And LGBTI people cannot afford it.”
While Russian authorities appear to have relaxed their notoriously anti-LGBTIQ+ laws for the duration of the World Cup, local activists including Agapov have expressed fear at what awaits them once it ends later this month.
“Every month we definitely hear some bad news about concerning LGBTI community," he said.
"Either somebody is blackmailed or somebody was fisted [punched].”
You can watch the full video below:
