Today we celebrate the life and work of Karol Michalec. A decent kid, always more than just a hug on the dancefloor, Karol was a diamond we adored. Forever with the smile, forever adding that creative marvel to life you didn’t know you needed. He was a disco kid we loved.

Karol was the kind of soul you could always lean on, bringing his creative genius to whatever half-fetched idea my neurodiverse wiring had declared my latest special interest. Back in July of 2013, on the edges of the mainstream news, the lives of LGBTQ+ Russians were unfolding before our disbelieving eyes, one of discrimination, bullying, beatings, torture, and in some cases murder, their daily reality a horror barely imagined as Putin and his unholy alliances with the turbocharged homophobia of the Russian orthodox church took its deadly toll. Blogs were written, rants made, petitions signed but I wanted to do more, and so that kid on the dancefloor called Karol came good. Understanding my rage, understanding the brief, understanding the pain. Two outsiders working together to make the outsiders of Russian society feel like they will always belong to a wider community. A design was decided upon and Karol worked his magic, converting the Brighton Royal Pavilion to a pink Kremlin. We kept it homegrown, shared jpegs on our socials and encouraged people to print and display in their windows, at work, home and school. And to our surprise our online community did. It worked.

And when Paul Kemp and the Brighton Pride team came on board a few days later – encouraged by the endless tenacity of James Ledward suddenly the thoughts, words and designs of two queer keyboard warriors were walking the street, placards held high across the 2013 Brighton Pride Community Parade. They even made their way to Uganda Pride – wow the tears rolled we saw that! A stand was taken, a message of support sent, a connection to our LGBTQ+ Russian community made. All because of the obsessive rage of an autistic writer and a creative compassion of a disco kid called Karol. A disco kid I’ll always remember. Thank you darling boy. You made a difference. You always made a difference.

An exhibition celebrating the life and work of Karol Michalec will take place in the Founders Room at Brighton Dome on Saturday 14th October 2023 14:00-17:00. More details on Facebook.

Life for the Russian LGBTQ+ community is still a human rights travesty. To read more check out HWR