Freedom to Love

by Elena

Everyone has the right to freedom: freedom of speech, choice, religion, orientation.

My name is Elena. I am 50 years old. I would like to tell you about my freedom to love and be loved.

I was born and grew up in Russia in the city of Moscow. I love my country very much. It’s big, beautiful and I’ve lived in it almost my whole life. In 2016 I met a wonderful woman there. We turned out to have many of the same interests and views on life. And we complemented each other in different things. Brave, smart, purposeful – she became like a ray of sunshine to me. She was not my first love, but I know that she is my last and forever.

We wanted to be together, we wanted to be a family, but in our country, it is impossible to legalize a relationship between two women. We had to hide our relationship to avoid negative consequences.

Twice we experienced the aggression of other people. The first time we held each other’s hand in a public place. Seeing this, several people began to shout at us. The second time was in the park when a man noticed just a rainbow pin on my girlfriend’s backpack. He started shouting insults at us. It was very scary and upsetting.

In 2018 my girlfriend won a green card and we have a ray of hope. We began the path to freedom to love and the opportunity to be a real family. My beloved moved to America. We missed each other so much and we decided to get married. But unfortunately, in Russia, it was impossible to enter into such a marriage and we were forced to get married in Denmark.

The ceremony was beautiful and romantic but a little sad because her relatives and my mother and son couldn’t attend our wedding.

Returning to Russia, I was forced to hide my marriage. I couldn’t even show our wedding photos. My wife filed a petition and we waited a long time for a decision to reunite our family.

During our 4 years of waiting, I was afraid for my son, because if his classmates had found out about our family, he could have been beaten. I was afraid that my coworker would find out about our family. I was afraid that my boss would find out and fire me. I was afraid that the neighbors would find out.

Finally, in December 2022, a positive decision was made on our petition and we were able to be together. It was a very exciting event. My son and I came to Roanoke to join my wife to become a real family! We received the freedom to hold hands, show each other signs of affection and not fear for our health and life. We have gained the freedom to love and be loved!

I really miss Russia. I still have a mother there who is forced to lie to everyone about my family. If she tells the truth, she could be fined multiple times.

I really hope that someday every person in every country will have the right to freedom. In Roanoke I received this right and I am happy because I am surrounded by loving and friendly people!

Author’s Note: Elena is a student in Blue Ridge Literacy’s Advanced Level ESOL Classes.