Watch the first Russian PSA to challenge anti-LGBTQ+ legislation

The Russian LGBTQ Network, LGBTNET, has a message for Russian President Vladimir Putin on the one year anniversary of his referendum banning gay marriage: “Love is everyone’s right.” In addition to the referendum, a “gay propoganda” law has been in place in Russia since 2013, criminalizing LGBTQ+ representation in media. LGBTNET, with Russia’s leading creative agency Voskhod, is confronting that legislation with the release of the country's first anti-homophobia public service announcement, called “We Will Become Better.” The PSA begins in an artist’s apartment, walls plastered with sketches of the male figure and painted landscapes. A bird flees its cage and finds the male artists sleeping nearby. A phantom force lifts him from the couch he was napping on and leads him through a series of acrobatic movements. The phantom is another man, living in a slick high-rise seemingly a distance away in Moscow. From their separate locations, the two men mime caressing, dancing and lifting one another to breathtaking effect (the video was shot on iPhone, painstakingly coordinated to align both dancers’ movements). They re-enact the highs and lows of a relationship and as the energy of the performance escalates, the choreography, by Konstantin Koval, becomes increasingly intimate. Clothing comes off and the movement writhes with passion. In the end, the two tearfully disengage and the artist returns his bird to its cage. “These are two people that love each other and want to be together, but forbid themselves,” said Evgeny Primachenko, a creative director at Wieden + Kennedy Amsterdam who is the writer behind the film, in a statement. “Because of societal judgment, because of certain walls that are created around that relationship, which unfortunately cannot happen.” The video’s creators, Primachenko, award-winning Latvian director Andzej Gavriss and Russian band Sansara, risk violating Russian law with the passionate act of allyship made in “We Will Become Better.” The campaign, produced via Halal, includes links to resources from LGBTNET, including social and legal services. “This campaign is a precedent for Russia’s social advertising industry," said Alla Chikinda, from the Yekaterinburg Resource Center for LGBT people, in a statement. "It’s the first-ever project created by an LGBT-organization and a marketing agency. The video has been produced by one of the country’s most successful ad agencies and it features a popular song, so it’s a big step towards recognizing the importance of LGBT+-oriented agenda...let’s not forget that the news headlines are full of information on how two men got attacked on the street, got insulted in a public space or were banned from visiting a café. That’s why we still have to talk about how hard it is for LGBT+ people to be together.”

Watch the first Russian PSA to challenge anti-LGBTQ+ legislation

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