Libel or truth: the activist will answer for the complaint against the boy in the role of the Snow Maiden

The villagers condemned the complainant. The regional governor called the woman a provocateur and her actions a “witch hunt.”

Marina Kotenko explained why she did all this.

The scandal unfolded in the Transbaikal village of Kaptsegaituy, where boys played female roles at a New Year’s party. Marina Kotenko wrote a complaint on behalf of the village residents that this event promotes non-traditional values. She asked that the head of the settlement and the former head of the village club be held accountable.

Next came a check. A gathering was held in the village, as a result of which the villagers condemned Kotenko and stated that they had not signed the appeal. The head of Kaptsegaituy, in an interview with local media, admitted that there are more boys than girls in the village: “The Snow Maiden, perhaps, was not found.”

Deputy from the Trans-Baikal Territory Andrei Gurulev, to whom Kotenko also addressed, said that the performance was a bad joke, but this was not a reason for public flogging and punishment.

The governor of the Trans-Baikal Territory wrote in his telegram channel: “Our people are the wisest and fairest. It will not work to mislead our people.” He added that in cinema they often use a technique where female roles are played by male actors.

The Ministry of Culture found no violations.

As a result, residents of Kaptsegaituy, in turn, wrote complaints against Marina Kotenko. The woman was summoned for questioning by the police. The matter was limited to a preventive conversation.

We spoke with the instigator of the scandal.

— Now I live in Chita, which is 650 km from the village where everything happened. My ancestors lived in Kaptsegaituy, I used to live there. And the head of the village now says that I am nobody,” Kotenko began. – He attributes what is happening to personal hostility towards him. Although I am a positive person and a believer, I am not fanatical. There are many people whom I could hate, but I have no anger towards them. And suddenly they made me out to be almost a crazy and evil woman. They started a rumor that I was engaged in prostitution, my husbands left me… I have a second marriage, I am married, but we live separately, it happened. Two daughters: the youngest is three years old, the eldest is finishing college in Novosibirsk.

Marina admits that she has known the head of the village for a long time and the relationship between them is strained.

“Last year I was asked to hold a vote to connect this village to cellular communications and the Internet. I took over the organization and received a quota. They should connect this year. Apparently, the head did not like my zeal. Even then, gossip began to spread about me, insults began. They tried to intimidate me. And people are afraid of everything. They are illiterate and don’t understand anything. They take advantage of their illiteracy.

– What does the New Year holiday have to do with it?

— Before the New Year, the head of the village said that the tree was dedicated to the Northern Military District. I was absent from the event itself – they sent me a video where I saw that the boys dressed up as female fairy-tale characters. The hair on my head started to move. I showed the performance to the military who were in the Northern Military District. Everyone was condemned. I wrote a complaint. And then a meeting was held in the village on this issue. People were asked: did you see any LGBT propaganda there (recognized as an extremist organization and banned in Russia)? No one supposedly saw it. A commission from the governor planned to attend the gathering, but no one arrived. As I know, the head of the district was outraged that the governor even found out about this. She doesn’t need any fuss, and neither does our governor. Therefore, one must think, everything ended this way.

– Are you so offended that a schoolboy played the Snow Maiden, or are you settling scores with the head of the village?

– It is not normal. Why did Baba Yaga become almost a prostitute? At least they would put felt boots on her, a padded jacket, and make her a hump… At the matinee itself there were 8-year-old children present. As far as I know, after the Christmas tree, an unauthorized disco was held in the cultural center, and those present allegedly got drunk.

— Were the artists’ parents indignant?

“One guy’s mother stood there happy, filming the performance. Tell me, where have our traditions gone, when children call Father Frost and Snow Maiden in unison?..

At first I sent the video from the matinee to Deputy Gurulev. He was outraged. And then, when they called me inadequate, he withdrew.

I counted on the teachers, but they did not support me. At the meeting, one school employee tried to say something in my support, but she was technically silenced. People were apparently afraid to vote differently. But there was no “abstain” column.

I wonder if there was a protocol of the gathering, where it was noted how many people came and who spoke? Who voted “for”, who “against”? I don’t think anything was documented. It seems to me that about 70 people were present at the meeting, of which 36 voted that they considered the tree normal. And then the governor was told that everyone had voted unanimously.

Now I need to prove that I’m not crazy. People write to me: why do you need this? This is my homeland. My ancestors are included in the chronicle of the village. I won’t let the village be destroyed! We don’t even weave nets there or pour trench candles for the front. And I said that we need to do such things, it will unite people, they will drink less…

— Maybe you want to become the head of the village?

– In no case. Although I was asked this question. If the residents weren’t against it, maybe I would. The head’s salary is good, 60 thousand rubles. There is a kindergarten there…

— Now they are assembling a new gathering. So the story is not over?

— The second meeting is being held on other issues. I was planning to go there. I cried to the guys who came from the Northern Military District and thought: why would I waste my time, I’d rather help them. But the relatives of the military say: don’t give up, we support you. Now I decided to write to Gurulev again, to tell the governor that I do not agree with this state of affairs.

I still hoped for the school principal, but she was worried about something else. After all, they had an autumn ball, where the boys also dressed up in women’s dresses. But there they just walked, and here Father Frost lay all evening on the Snow Maiden’s lap. Are there really no normal scenarios?

They write to me in the comments: what does a children’s matinee and SVO have to do with it? People do not understand that people risk their lives for traditional values ​​so that we remain with the Russian people, with our Father Frost, and not with a half-naked Baba Yaga and not with a boy in the role of the Snow Maiden.

— Maybe it’s simpler: there weren’t any girls at school for this role?

– No, it’s their kind of humor. I recently got into a conversation in a store with a resident of another Transbaikal village. He said that they also had a similar Christmas tree. And there is no need to compare what happened with Georgy Millyar, who played Baba Yaga. This is far from Millyar. On the other hand, maybe it’s time to call it a day. Otherwise, like Don Quixote, I gallop across the steppes of Transbaikalia, but there’s no point.