About Us

“Urania” is a media project about the history and present of LGBT people in Russia and around the world, as well as LGBT politics and queer theology. We cover the lives of people whose identity and experience fall outside common social norms.

This website was originally created by Russian authors, and all articles are translated from Russian.

Our Principles

We write for a broad audience, but we rely on high-quality research. The site’s authors are professionals with backgrounds in history and the humanities, for whom objectivity and fact-checking are essential.

At the end of every article, you will find a list of references, so you can verify what the material is based on. Most often, these are monographs, academic journal articles, and historical primary sources. Occasionally, when the topic requires it, we also draw upon literary texts.

We treat history with care and do not assign labels without evidence. If the sources do not allow for a confident conclusion, we clearly state the degree of uncertainty or leave the question open.

Why “Urania”?

The name refers to Plato’s dialogue The Symposium, which speaks of two Aphrodites: Pandemos (“of all the people”) and Urania (“heavenly”). Aphrodite Urania symbolizes love between men, based primarily on spiritual closeness and intellectual kinship, rather than physical desire. We chose the name of this “heavenly” goddess for our project.

Where to Start?

There is a lot of material on the site, but to get acquainted with the project, we recommend starting with the “Courses” section. These are large, well-structured series of articles for a deep dive into the subject.

Independence and Collaboration

“Urania” is a completely independent project. We do not receive grants from states or foundations: the site is supported entirely by the personal funds of its creators.

We are open to collaboration. Do you want to write for us or do something together? Email us!

Contacts

• Telegram (in Russian): @urania_institute . Telegram posts may include a translation for Premium users.
• X (Twitter): @uraniainstitute. The account is in English, but you can read posts via Grok translation.
• Email: uraniarossica@gmail.com (you can write to us in any language).