Waltz With Vladimir by Masha Gessen

MOSCOW — On Saturday morning we had our hair done. Then my two older kids and I put on our finest party clothes — we looked like we were going to a prom — and drove from our dacha into the city.

First we went to the studios of TV Dozhd, an independent channel that broadcasts via satellite and the Internet, to take part in an adoption talk-a-thon in honor of the International Day for the Protection of Children. The Russian government had picked that day to announce that it would ban adoptions by same-sex couples, and we went on the air to say that my oldest son, who is adopted and being raised by lesbians, will be leaving for boarding school in the United States in a few weeks, in part to make sure the Russian authorities cannot get to him.

“It would appear there is no place in this country for Sergei Guriev or for Masha Gessen’s children,” the host said ruefully.

Sergei Guriev, a leading Russian economist, announced last week that he has left the country because he feared arrest. His statement was a profound shock: While fairly outspoken politically, Guriev had appeared well connected to the highest levels of the government and therefore well protected. If he believes he could have gone to jail, then anyone could.

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