We seem to live in a world of extremes, increasingly. Russia being a good example of a country that has quickly devolved to extremely, frighteningly anti-gay discrimination.
Lost in all of this are people in Russia who are completely reasonable, intelligent and critical. One of these voices is that of Daria Wilkes, who has published her book, The Jester’s Cap, which features major gay themes.
The children’s/young adult’s novel follows 14-year-old Grisha who lives with his family, working in a puppet theatre. Grisha’s family friend, Sam, is gay and eventually flees to Holland because of Russia’s anti-gay laws.
Wilkes explained to The Atlantic: “Because of these laws, in many bookstores, it has an ‘18+’ stamp, even though in my view, I think it’s suitable for 12-year-olds.”
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