When Love Became Illegal – Queer Life in Putin’s Russia

“As Erkka Mikkonen’s book unfolds, the story moves from tolerance to outright persecution, culminating in the flight of minorities seeking safety in the West. Mikkonen demonstrates, without embellishment, how discrimination leads to violence sanctioned by the state. The violence and oppression directed at trans people, for example, are justified in Russia with arguments remarkably similar to those seen in the United States and even in Finland. [–] Mikkonen’s book also reveals what it means to work as a journalist in a country without genuine democracy. [–] The book brings familiar news events and their background into focus without sensationalism, yet in a way that forces readers to think about the real people behind the headlines. [–] This is not merely one man’s account of our eastern neighbor’s slide into totalitarianism, echoing aspects of Nazi Germany’s fascism, but an authoritative contemporary narrative that offers a fresh perspective on Putin’s Russia. What remains most strongly with the reader is the author’s profound love for Russia, its culture, and its people—and his courage.”

– Johanna Hasu, Itä-Häme newspaper