This Russian Gay Couple Hopes Their Wedding Will Help Change Minds
Tall and handsome, they walked hand in hand across Madison Square Park to look at the Flatiron Building. They were both smiling. They had many reasons to feel happy in New York City.
Mikhail Zygar, a celebrated Russian author (whose books focus on Putin’s elite and his use of propaganda), and his partner, Russian actor and model Jean-Michel Shcherbak, recently showed their home country an example of coming out with courage and honesty. They celebrated a big and fun wedding—their own—in Lisbon, Portugal. Russia has not seen a happy same-sex wedding before. Mikhail, former editor-in-chief of the Russian TV channel Rain, and Jean-Michel were the first to make that jump for each other.
Dozens of friends, mostly exiled Russian journalists, came from all over the world to celebrate the couple in a picturesque square in the Portuguese capital. For three years they had to hide their love in Russia, where the law allows the removal of children from gay parents. And now Zygar’s 12-year-old daughter was with them at their happy party of friends and family.