Russian-American journalist and LGBT activist **Masha Gessen** visited First Parish in Cambridge to discuss Vladimir Putin’s rise to power and its worldwide effects. A noted opponent to Putin’s regime, Gessen cites the President’s militaristic allocation of funds and general pursuit of power as reasons for the fall of the country’s nascent democratic government. When asked about the nature of freedom of expression in Russia, Gessen opines, “the subjective experience of having space contract around you is probably more traumatic and more limiting than the experience of never having had the space in the first place.”
Masha Gessen is a Russian and American journalist, author, and activist who writes in both Russian and English and has built a career in journalism in Russia and the United States. Gessen identifies as a lesbian and has written extensively on LGBT rights and help founded the Pink Triangle Campaign in Moscow. She has been described as "Russia's leading LGBT rights activist." Gessen voluntarily left Russia in 2013 when tightening anti-gay and lesbian policies threatened her family.