LGBT Rights

Safety in the United States

From a young age, Zhenya was harassed because of his perceived sexual orientation. In his asylum application materials, Zhenya wrote:

"Despite my silence about my sexuality, speculation abounded because of my effeminate mannerisms and my harassment worsened. The boys called me 'fag,' like it was my name, and I learned to accept that they were referring to me whenever they used anti-gay slurs like that."

In Russia, Zhenya received death threats and was targeted for violence because of his sexual orientation. The police failed to investigate incidents when Zhenya was beaten by gang members and separate incidents when his life was threatened. In fact, the police called Zhenya a "fag boy" and were sympathetic to Zhenya's attackers, warning Zhenya that he was "lucky." Even after Zhenya fled the country, gang members continued to hunt for him, telling Zhenya's coworkers that "'we [are] going to kill this fag. We will dig him out of the ground ... ."

Upon arriving in the United States, Zhenya sought assistance from Immigration Equality, which referred his case to McDermott. On Zhenya's behalf, McDermott filed an asylum application and successfully persuaded U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services that Zhenya faced a significant risk of persecution if deported back to Russia. On October 6, 2010, Zhenya was granted political asylum.

In the short amount of time Zhenya has been in the United States, he has made a life for himself and met a boyfriend, whom he has been dating for more than one year. In the fall of 2010 Zhenya was selected as one of 10 dancers to perform for Madonna at the launch of her Material Girl clothing line at Macy's department store in Herald Square, New York.