WEDDING GUIDE
Anna Kolomytseva (l) and Larisa Ivanova
FROM RUSSIA, WITH LOVE Anna Kolomytseva and Larisa Ivanova got married in Houston after fleeing their country. By RYAN M. LEACH Anna Kolomytseva, 37, and Larisa Ivanova, 43, were married in a Harris County Courthouse on June 17, 2022. The ceremony was a simple one, as they were not in any position to afford a more formal wedding after fleeing to Houston from Russia only one month before. They only had three guests—their young daughter, Eva, and Anna’s brother Sergei and his husband, Tony. And for now, that is all they need as they settle into their new home, finally able to live openly as a married couple. “We met in person on January 12, 2013— our first date since meeting on social media. Our first date was at a coffee shop in Moscow, after which we went to see the recently 72
AUGUST 2022 | OutSmartMagazine.com
released movie Anna Karenina with Keira Knightley, followed by dinner at an Italian restaurant. Before meeting each other for the first time, we spent two weeks talking on the phone. It felt very special,” Anna says. In Russia, LGBTQ couples are consitutionally prohibited from being married or even publicly acknowledged. President Vladamir Putin’s regime is notorious for targeting LGBTQ Russians and persecuting them with violence and even imprisonment. Putin’s treatment of LGBTQ citizens are clear human-rights violations that have been called out by many countries, including the US. Larisa, Anna, and their daughter had to be granted humanitarian parole in the United States before they were able to apply for asy-
lum. Since arriving in Houston, they have moved in with Sergei and Tony in Montrose while they get settled. After being together for nine years and having a child together, marriage was at the top of their to-do list after arriving in America. “It felt incredible to hear the judge declare us spouses. We know that this will become the foundation for our new life in the United States. The feelings of being equal, validated, and protected were very special—something we’ve never felt in Russia,” Larisa says. The irony of the couple’s enthusiasm for the freedoms they are now experiencing in America is likely not lost on Texans who live in a state where Republican leadership regularly creates laws that target and marginalize
