Yuma Yuma

Yuma Yuma
Born	1972 (age 51–52) Turkmenistan
Occupations	Psychotherapist activist

Yuma Yuma (Russian: Юма Юма; born 1972), known simply as Yuma, is a Turkmen-born Russian psychotherapist and LGBT rights activist. She became known in Russia after appearing on an advertisement by the supermarket chain VkusVill along with her lesbian family.

Biography

Yuma became an activist for LGBT rights after the Federal Assembly passed its gay propaganda law in June 2013.^[1] She provides psychological assistance to LGBT community from Chechnya who said Russian police tortured them in 2017 and 2018. She has also supported LGBT festivals and events in her country.^[1]

On 30 June 2021, the advertisement “Recipes for a Happy Family” was published on the VkusVill website, which described families buying products in the supermarket chain. It depicts the story of an LGBT family, which caused polarizing reactions in Runet. Some media reported the first case of support for the LGBT movement in the history of the company.^[2] However, after the material was distributed among ultra-conservative Telegram channels, VkusVill, as well as the families of the women from the ad, began to receive threats, including physical violence. As a result of public outcry, the company's management removed the ad from their website and social networks and apologized for their mistake.^[3][4] Due of the threats, Yuma and her partner and daughters fled Russia for Spain.^[3][4]

In August 2021, Yuma moved to Barcelona together with her partner Zhenya, their daughters Alina and Mila and Alina's partner Ksyusha.^[5][6]

Awards and recognition

In 2021, Yuma was listed as one of the BBC 100 Women of the year.^[1]

References

1. "BBC 100 Women 2021: Who is on the list this year?". BBC News. 7 December 2021. Archived from the original on 7 December 2021.
2. "«Вкусвилл» выпустил рекламу с участием лесбийской пары. А потом назвал ее ошибкой и извинился". Meduza (in Russian). Archived from the original on 2021-07-04. Retrieved 2021-07-04.
3. "Family Flees Russia After Commercial Exposes Their Pro-LGBT Lifestyle". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 3 August 2021. Archived from the original on 30 September 2021.
4. "Russian gay family in controversial ad flee to Spain after threats". The Guardian. 5 August 2021. Archived from the original on 26 October 2022.
5. "'We can't go back': the Russian gay family who took refuge in Spain". The Guardian. 6 August 2021.
6. "Mila Yuma: "Parlar de família LGTBIQ+ a Rússia és revolucionari"". Catalunya Plural. 2021-11-22. Archived from the original on 21 August 2022. Retrieved 2022-02-06.