Gay in Putin's Russia

KUER 90.1 | By Doug Fabrizio

Published February 5, 2014 at 9:52 PM MST

Activist Dmitry Chizhevsky was shot during at attack on an LGBT social event in St. Petersburg

The Winter Olympics open Friday, but they're garnering attention beyond the games. In Russia, a government crackdown and an alarming rate of violence are putting the LGBT community at serious risk of jail, beatings and even death. Journalist Jeff Sharlet went to Russia in November and has written an article for this month's GQ Magazine. Thursday, he joins Doug to talk about the crusade to purge Russia of gays and lesbians and about how the underground LGBT community is responding.

Jeff Sharlet's article Inside the Iron Closet appears in the February issue of GQ Magazine. Among his books is C Street: The Fundamentalist Threat to Democracy [ Amazon|Indiebound]

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Doug Fabrizio

Doug Fabrizio has been reporting for KUER News since 1987, and became News Director in 1993. In 2001, he became host and executive producer of KUER's RadioWest, a one hour conversation/call-in show on KUER 90.1 in Salt Lake City. He has gained a reputation for his thoughtful style. He has interviewed everyone from Isabel Allende to the Dalai Lama, and from Madeleine Albright to Desmond Tutu. His interview skills landed him a spot as a guest host of the national NPR program, "Talk of the Nation." He has won numerous awards for his reporting and for his work with RadioWest and KUED's Utah NOW from such organizations as the Society of Professional Journalists, the Utah Broadcasters Association, the Public Radio News Directors Association and the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

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