22 Russians Who We Won’t Let Vladimir Putin Forget Were Gay

From: Advocate

Michael Lucas 

b. 1972

Yup. That Michael Lucas.

Born in  Moscow, he was raised in a secular Jewish family. In 1994, after earning a law degree from Moscow State Law Academy, Lucas briefly owned and operated a travel agency until 1995. He left Russia for Munich, Germany, then settled in France for the next two years. In 1997, Lucas moved to New York City.

He started his porn career in Germany with straight films, but while in France, he worked with the influential director Jean-Daniel Cadinot in his first gay films, and then went on to become a Falcon exclusive. He now has his own successful production company in New York.

As a columnist for Out, The Advocate, Huffington Post and Pink News, his reputation is controversial and his writing outspoken. Speaking regularly at universities such as Stanford, Yale, and Oxford, he discusses social, political, and sexual issues. He has been on the cover of hundreds of magazines worldwide and has been profiled in many mainstream publications ranging from New York Magazine to The New Republic.

In 2009, he became a citizen of Israel, denouncing his Russian citizenship in 2010 over Russian homophobia and anti-Semitism.