In the middle of an alley notorious for crime a new club is catering for a section of the populace Russian society has long despised: homosexuals.
Club members have vowed to fight against an attitude of discrimination they say is not only outdated but a source of many human rights violations.
The club's location shows they are very aware change won't happen overnight.
"We can not yet go into the open," says the club founder, Yuri Yereyev. "We fear almost everybody, from bandits to ordinary people, though thanks to God we are legally registered."
The club is situated two minutes' walk from a bus stop on Sadovaya Ulitsa at apartment block number 9 on Myasnikova Ulitsa.
Inside the block's apartment 32 nothing indicates that here is a welcome haven for a sexual minority which has long cultivated a taste for freedom but been too intimidated to test its flavor.
About 100 people, mostly lesbians and gays, meet in the rather small rooms of the club apartment to discuss current affairs, have fun, look for partners from all corners of the world, and fight AIDS at the same time.
Mr Yereyev wants his club to maintain a respectable image, not to be mistaken for a night club where moral norms are transgressed.
"Neither drugs nor heavy drinking is allowed here. We need to be respected because we are just ordinary people," says Mr Yereyev.