Read on Twitter
On July 17th, 1986, during a televised talkshow between the USSR & USA, a Soviet woman famously exclaimed: "There is no sex in the Soviet Union!"
If gays and sex were lacking during Communism, there was plenty of it under the Tsars
This is a thread of where they went to have it
If gays and sex were lacking during Communism, there was plenty of it under the Tsars
This is a thread of where they went to have it
Towards the end of the 19th/beginning of the 20th C, a homosexual subculture began to develop in Moscow and St. Petersburg, the result of industrialisation and peasant migration
Wealthy male patrons of male sexual partners were called aunts, the boys were called "goluboi" (blue)
Wealthy male patrons of male sexual partners were called aunts, the boys were called "goluboi" (blue)
By the 1870s, there was already a homosexual geography St. Petersburg, places that were used for meetings, exchanging information, and finding partners.
The most well known route was along the Nevsky Prospekt, from Znamenskaya Square to Anichkov Bridge, and onwards to the Passage (trading house) and the Public Library, which turned out to be an ideal place to search for same-sex relationships, especially in the winter.
"On Sundays, in winter, aunties stalk the Passage, where cadets & students can be found in the morning, and soldiers & apprentice boys in the eve. But the best spot is the ice rink, where you can watch young men skate and try inviting them to patisseries or back to your home."
The fairgrounds and exhibition spaces in the Mikhailovsky Gardens and in the Fields of Mars were also popular pick-up spots. It was easy to walk around and not look suspicious if you were just wandering. Particularly popular during Easter.
If you were of a certain social standing and wanting to pick up posh boys who were up for either a bit of fun or a long lasting relationship, Wednesday afternoons watching the ballet at the Mariinsky Theater is where you went.
You can do a lot in the dark in a booth...
You can do a lot in the dark in a booth...
Young men who would offer their services to those who had the means to afford them would often be found gathered in the Tauride Gardens. Famous gay Russian poet Mikhail Kuzmin wrote of this on May 24, 1906 in his diary.
"On Sunday we’ll go to Taurides, where you can pick up anyone, be it a songwriter, or a dancer, or a simple peasant. Nouvel says that he is in love with Vyacheslav, a paramedic of some regiment, whom he met there. Imagine! A paramedic ... with whom you can have love..."
Around the late 1880s/early 1890s, if the weather was good, on the weekends, men went to look for each other in the Zoological Garden. Ironically, near the walls of the Peter and Paul military Fortress, a different kind of military training was taking place.
“In summer, they gather daily in the Zoological Garden. It's especially crowded on weekends. You can find regimental singers, cadets, gym boys and apprentice boys. Soldiers of the imperial guards, cavalrymen, Cossacks, come for the sole purpose of searching for some pleasure"
Let's not forget the baths! Russians love their public bath houses, and well, these have always been a haven for homosexual activity.
Baths of Egorov pictured.
Baths of Egorov pictured.
The most famous were the Znamensky baths in Znamenskaya Square area (mentioned above), here described by a journalist:
“As soon as you penetrate this“ monastery ”, the massive figure of the famous bathhouse attendant Gavrila moves towards you, with a duck-like gait...
“As soon as you penetrate this“ monastery ”, the massive figure of the famous bathhouse attendant Gavrila moves towards you, with a duck-like gait...
...Gavrila is a stout man in his 40s, with a repulsive, unpleasant face, and a soul piercing gaze. This "gentleman" doesn't hesitate in offering you his "services" or those of someone else... He brings you an album of photos, listing the boys, some dressed as women, with pricing"
Here's an entry from Kuzmin's diary of the same place:
"In the evening I went to the bathhouse, just for fun, for pleasure, for cleanliness. The clerk informed me that I needed to pay for an attendant, a sheet and soap. Then he asked: “Maybe you'd prefer a pretty attendant?” ...
"In the evening I went to the bathhouse, just for fun, for pleasure, for cleanliness. The clerk informed me that I needed to pay for an attendant, a sheet and soap. Then he asked: “Maybe you'd prefer a pretty attendant?” ...
...I don't know what drove me, as I wasn't that interested... “Ok”
“I’ll send up a pretty one”
“Yes, good” I said, nervous
“Maybe a younger one?”, lowering his voice.
“I don't know,” I thought “Ok”
He began to intimately rub me down, growing closer,having long lost his innocence
“I’ll send up a pretty one”
“Yes, good” I said, nervous
“Maybe a younger one?”, lowering his voice.
“I don't know,” I thought “Ok”
He began to intimately rub me down, growing closer,having long lost his innocence
“After the act, we talked like thieves. [...] Alex, 22, had worked there for the 8yrs.
He kissed me goodbye, surprised that I shook his hand. Blushing, he thanked me and led me out. Passing by the ranks of standing attendants, accompanied by Alex, I felt as though everyone knew"
![“After the act, we talked like thieves. [...] Alex, 22, had worked there for the 8yrs.He kissed me goodbye, surprised that I shook his hand. Blushing, he thanked me and led me out. Passing by the ranks of standing attendants, accompanied by Alex, I felt as though everyone knew"](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EX_SozuXsAAt9dW.png "“After the act, we talked like thieves. [...] Alex, 22, had worked there for the 8yrs.He kissed me goodbye, surprised that I shook his hand. Blushing, he thanked me and led me out. Passing by the ranks of standing attendants, accompanied by Alex, I felt as though everyone knew\"")
He kissed me goodbye, surprised that I shook his hand. Blushing, he thanked me and led me out. Passing by the ranks of standing attendants, accompanied by Alex, I felt as though everyone knew"
Remember Grand Duke Konstantin from yesterday? He liked the baths too.
"Sinful thoughts have prevailed over me. I left my coachman and went on foot to the bathhouse. I passed the doors several times, back and forth; I finally entered. And here I am oce again sinning."
"Sinful thoughts have prevailed over me. I left my coachman and went on foot to the bathhouse. I passed the doors several times, back and forth; I finally entered. And here I am oce again sinning."
Hey @netflix, hire me to write a show about homosexuality in the Russian aristocracy
