Football player Nadezhda Karpova came out as gay: "In Spain, no one will condemn me for living with a girl"

Nadezhda Karpova

Russian women's national team player Nadezhda Karpova, who is also an ambassador of the Adidas brand in Russia, gave an interview to the BBC (blocked in Russia), in which she came out - Karpova became the first professional athlete from Russia to talk about her homosexuality.

The 27-year-old athlete has been living in Barcelona for five years, where she plays for the Spanish club Espanyol. Karpova noted that one of the reasons for her move from Russia was a different attitude towards gays and lesbians in Europe: in Spain she does not face condemnation, while in Russia there is a law banning propaganda of homosexuality.

I stopped being afraid of many things, for example, public statements. I also understood that no one would judge me for living with a girl, and no one would label me for being a lesbian. Here the coach can ask me: "Will your girlfriend come to the game?". I just thought, "Wow!". In Russia they ask: "Do you have a boyfriend?" And here they ask: "Do you have a partner?".

Nadya Karpova with a girl The athlete admitted that she hid for a long time that she was a lesbian: she even told her mother about it just a year ago.

The main problem with gay children is that they constantly have to be on their guard, because you are afraid of the condemnation of society. But when your own state starts mocking you, then this is simply absurd. Nadya Karpova recalled how the owner of the Rossiyanka club tried to persuade her father to sign a contract and at the same time promised him that they would "look after" his lesbian daughter.

These people think that lesbians require special treatment. I was 18 then. According to the athlete, her father stood up for her. He said that he was ready to discuss only football, and not my sexual orientation. The difference between how LGBT people are treated here and in Russia is simply huge. She noted that today homosexuality in Russia is used as a means of discrediting, citing Maxim Galkin as an example. Russian propaganda today is trying to discredit people who oppose the war by publicly speaking out about their sexuality.

For example, when Margarita Simonyan spoke about the anti-war position of Maxim Galkin, she indicated that he was gay. They believe that being gay means that you are a bad person with no moral values. In an interview, Karpova also condemned the military special operation and spoke about Russian propaganda, which is designed to convince Russians of the correctness of the government's actions. Russian propaganda is trying to convince the Russians that we are a special nation, and the whole world is against us and our "special mission.

" What kind of special mission are we talking about? I don't think Russians are special. However, I am not ashamed to be Russian, because Russia is not the government and not Vladimir Putin, she said. Karpova admitted that she participated in two rallies, including in support of Alexei Navalny, but she believes that she did not do enough, and added that people who justify the military special operation are "hostages of propaganda." The footballer spoke out against the military special operation of the Russian Federation back in February - she became one of the few Russian athletes who publicly condemned the military special operation.

At the end of the interview, Karpova added that her activities, unlike those of most Russian athletes, have nothing to do with the Russian government. Despite this, she expressed her hope that there will be more athletes in Russia who are not afraid to speak out.