Al Pacino

As a gay teenager in post-Soviet Russia , Wes Hurley breathed a sigh of relief when his mother married an American and moved to the USA - But he soon discovered his stepfather, James , was violently homophobic. This led to strained relations until James made an unexpected transformation.

Wes Hurley ' s earliest memory is of his drunken father beat his mother. He was only four years old and too young to really understand what was going on, But sometimes he would dream that he saw A Movie . He had to imagine his hands in a square frame, that through the lens, he created with his fingers, his Life was A Movie .

"My parents would dance and sing, and I would imagine, a fun, eccentric Film version of My Life . Or You are fighting in a funny movie. Not real Wes fight reminds,".

His parents soon separated, and he grew up alone with his mother Elena , a young prison Doctor .

Elena was unconventional. She was not shy about voicing their anti-Communist views, she was not the only member of her family, which was anti-Semitic, and could not understand the virulent hatred of the people around You felt towards gay people. She always stood for what You thought was right, and made known their opinions. This rubbed off on their son as he grew up in the late 1980s, in the port city of Vladivostok, in Russia 's Pacific coast.

"It was a dark time, But it was a very exciting time for me as well. Our Country was broken. They taught us the Communist propaganda, and I would stand up and say, 'they teach us lies,'" he later recalled.

no one had seen that the disintegration of the Soviet Union , But in 1991, when Wes was 10, it started to unravel, which is why for the good of the end of December.

"It was unbelievable," Wes says. "I remember we were in a neighboring apartment. They had a color TV. Everyone was just glued to the TV and radios, because it was like a thriller. No one knew what was going on, exactly. It was an exciting, inspiring, scary moment. "

At first started to improve things. There was more freedom, more food, and to delight Wes and Elena 's, an influx of pirated copies of American films.

Wes remembers The Night he turned on the TV and spirit-on the Screen a film with Patrick Swayze , Demi Moore and Whoopi Goldberg , where the spirit of a murdered man remains on earth to protect with The Help of the psychic, appeared to be, his girlfriend from the danger.

"It was unlike anything had seen what I did before," Wes says. "The Russian movies were mostly depressing and dark at the time. We had seen nothing like this, the remote was so funny and entertaining and reality. I was obsessed with Whoopi Goldberg . "

One of the films that inspired Wes and Elena , even though he has to admit it's embarrassing, well, Curly Sue is a "terrible Film" with Jim Belushi , as a homeless man, Alisan Porter as a young girl he took under his wing when her mother died, and Kelly Lynch , a lawyer who gives You a home away from home. All were dubbed by a single actor, the sound, as if he was disguise to pinch in the nose - perhaps, to his voice, so he got caught.

"It's kind of like a reverse Cinderella story," says Wes . "And I think that it was really speaking to us, because they are made of really poor live in this luxury apartment in New York and take bubble baths and eat good food, so that it felt very 'I hope that happens to us. '

"It made us Fall In love with the we have seen in the cinema, that's for sure. Everything we saw was just so different from our reality. This is what started our dream in the United States . "

of course, and Wes Elena knew that The Movies were invented, But the positive stories You told was very important, they give You hope when You felt hopeless.

the Vladivostok had always been a "post-apocalyptic landscape of unfinished construction sites, decay, Extreme Poverty and violence", at least in Wes '. And after The Fall of the Soviet Union , it became even more notorious as a haven for corruption and crime. Violent drug traffickers and gang members were a constant hazard to the Wes on the streets of The City and his school was hardly less violent.

It was in this threatening environment, he came to the realization that he was gay.

"at the time [as] gay was something sub-human, monstrous, and exotic, something that 'not really exist' in Russia . Not the time, I was even sure if gay people were real, or if they were made, Monster," Wes says.

It's not mentioned it to Elena , who was already worried enough about him. But as he started to skip school, and sometimes even carrying a butcher knife for protection, she took a decision to escape in The World that You have seen in the cinema, by wedding an E-mail order.

In the 1990s, an emerging sector of the catalogues and of dating services was developed, correspond to Women from countries such as Russia with men from countries such as the USA, Japan and Australia.

Elena provided profile information and some photos, as You would on a dating site today, and paid a small fee for matching up with the American men.

she corresponded with a few of them in the next couple of years, and finally in the United States traveled to meet A Man about 15 years older than You , called James - a wonderful "exotic" name to the teenage Wes (or Vasily, as he was then).

When she came back, she was radiant and Wes showed a ring. Elena and had married James , so she and Wes could finally go to America. It was like A Dream come true. They flew from Vladivostok, one side of The Pacific , to a new home in Seattle, on The Other .

"of Course, there was so Much to learn and our English was very bad, But we were so excited to be American and learn English, the are really great challenges," Wes says.

Go to a High School " where You didn't think to get You to go," was murdered is also a big change.

Everything about her new Life was different from the food in the supermarket, the cleanliness of The City and the people smile on The Street . But the tension soon started brewing at home.

"James was a really Christian conservative fundamentalists. He was a convert, a Russian Orthodox, and he wanted to wife a Russian Orthodox. My mom was technically says Russian Orthodox, But she was not conservative or fundamentalist," Wes .

Elena liberal beliefs were a surprise for James , and also James conservatism was a challenge for Elena . James didn't understand how Elena could support legal abortion. He was not to believe, in contrast to gay rights, wanted in secular schools, hated the Clintons, and was appalled at Halloween in the belief that they are Satanic holiday.

Wes remembers James as the very intense, often ranting and raving. He would Be Kind and caring one moment, the next, he would fly into a terrible rage In times like these, he often has the possibility of sending Elena and Wes indicated back to Russia , because they are not Christian or conservative enough for him. They were both extremely vulnerable.

at The same time, during their first year in the United States , thanks to TV, movies, and discussions in the school, Wes came to the realization that he is not the only gay person in The World . At the age of 16 years he came to his Mama.

"It was actually a funny conversation, because I was brooding and moody all the time. And finally, I told her that I was gay, and she was like, 'What is it? Everyone is a bit gay. '" Wes says.

"And I was like," no, mum, what do You mean?' And She Said , " Sometimes I notice good looking Women . 'And I was like, 'do You want to have sex with You ?' and She Said 'no'. And I was like, 'no, I'm really super gay. 'And You said, 'I don T care if You are super gay. '

"I thought it more sadness or drama would be, But she was so nonchalant about it. It was Amazing . "

they both knew, however, that, if revealed, Wes the sexual orientation of James , he would definitely send them back to Russia - and that really bothered Wes .

"I was kind of Moody and angry, and now learning about gay rights, thanks to The Internet , I was to realize how Much gay people had deleted from the story, and it made me so angry. I felt like James is the embodiment of was pretty Much of this evil oppressive presence, to hate and I really started it," Wes says.

not to offend, He would do everything he could to avoid James , as he tried him. When he was 18, he went off and got a job. And even then, he still has hidden his sexuality from James .

Source of news: bbc.com