An annotated map of gay locales (cafes, bars, nightclubs, saunas, and cruising areas or "pleshki" in a 1997 issue of the gay magazine Арго
Post-Soviet
1997
Argo, which began publication in 1993 (the year of the repeal of Aritcle 121 of the Russian Federation Criminal Code prohibiting “sodomy” or male homosexual relations), was a glossy magazine, primarily for gay men, of a genre indigenous to Western cities beginning in the 1980s. These magazines featured articles about health (many focused on HIV and AIDS), other practical information, erotic fiction, personal ads, all interspersed with photographic erotica (generally male nudes).
The map and accompanying list featured here were also a familiar genre for readers of the LGBTQ press in the 1980s and 1990s. In most cities, establishments accommodating sexual encounters, such as bath houses, were of necessity discreet, and therefore not easily navigated to without direction. The less formal, more improvised venues for sexual encounters such as “cruising spots” (the rough Russian equivalent here is pleshki, the last rubric on the list, highlighted in teal), were completely off the radar, and had to be for legal and safety reasons. This was true even in most Western cities where the LGBTQ population (to use the current terminology) had a well-established and visible presence, such as in New York City (Christopher Street and the West Village), San Francisco (the Castro), and Paris (the Marais). In cities where this was not the case, and Moscow was certainly in this category, even establishments such as restaurants, cafes, bars, and night clubs had to maintain a low profile, both to protect the privacy of their patrons and to protect the establishments themselves from harassment, vandalism, and violence. These establishments required communication channels that would allow them to reach their target audience without attracting unwanted attention from potentially hostile elements (see remarks on this in “Gay Dawn,” also included in this collection). For many locales, addresses or basic x/y coordinates were not enough, and minute instructions of the type seen here for the restaurant “Scorpion” and the beach at “Lebiazh’i lakes” are required: “enter through the second arch of building no. 4 and immediately on the left you’ll see a black iron door;” “second stop on the trolley – at the bridge across the Moscow river to the Strogino neighborhood, walk to the middle of the bridge, then go down the staircase and walk to the south for 30 minutes, keeping to the right, almost to the end of the peninsula.” Note also that an important indication here is potential danger. In addition to all the beaches and pleshki, the night club Shans (featured in another document in this collection: “Raid at Shans. Gays Triumph”) are marked as “potentially dangerous places.” These kinds of maps were essential for LGBTQ people for navigating the urban landscape as safely as possible.
Moscow
Argo, 1997, №5