Edward Zinowevich Tarletski (; born 5 February 1969), also known by the stage names Norma Pospolita and Madame Zhu-Zhu () is a Belarusian

drag performer Drag is a performance of exaggerated femininity, masculinity, or other forms of gender expression, usually for entertainment purposes. Drag usually involves cross-dressing. A drag queen is someone (usually male) who performs femininely and a drag ...

, recording artist, entertainer, journalist, gay activist, and

costume designer A costume designer is a person who designs costumes for a film, stage production or television show. The role of the costume designer is to create the characters' outfits or costumes and balance the scenes with texture and colour, etc. The costum ...

, living in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

, Sweden. He was born in

Minsk Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administra ...

, Belarus on 5 February 1969. Edward Tarletski graduated as a photographer and a journalist in

European Humanities University European Humanities University ( (ЕГУ/EHU), (EHU), (ЕГУ/EGU)) is a private, non-profit liberal arts university founded in Minsk, Belarus, in 1992. Following its forced closure by the Belarusian authorities in 2004, EHU relocated to Viln ...

(Minsk) in 1996. Since 2000, he has been a member of the

Belarusian Association of Journalists The Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ) (; ) is a Belarusian professional association of journalists from independent media, created in 1995 to protect freedom of speech, freedom of information, promote the professional standards of journ ...

Life in Belarus

In 1990, Tarletski was one of two people who

hunger strike A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance where participants fasting, fast as an act of political protest, usually with the objective of achieving a specific goal, such as a policy change. Hunger strikers that do not take fluids are ...

d for returning the

Church of Saints Simon and Helena The Church of Saints Simon and Helena (; ); ), also known as the Red Church (; ; ), is a Roman Catholic church on Independence Square, Minsk, Independence Square in Minsk, Belarus. This neo-Romanesque church was designed by Polish architects Tom ...

building to the Catholic community in Minsk. Between 1993 and 1998, Tarletski worked as a journalist for the

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a media organization broadcasting news and analyses in 27 languages to 23 countries across Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Caucasus, and the Middle East. Headquartered in Prague since 1995, RFE/RL ...

and as an editor of youth programming at the Belarusian state television station; at the same time he published articles in the Belarusian Catholic magazine "''Nasha vera" (''Our faith). Edward Tarletski was the first Belarusian person to publicly

come out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBTQ people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. This is often framed and debated as a privacy issue, ...

in 1998. In the same year, he founded BELARUS LAMBDA LEAGUE, the first LGBT organization in Belarus. On 19 April 1999, Tarletski organized the first ever gay public action in Belarus, when LGBT rights activists demonstrated to protest the authorities' refusal to register their organization. Edward Tarletski told

RFE/RL Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a media organization broadcasting news and analyses in 27 languages to 23 countries across Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Caucasus, and the Middle East. Headquartered in Prague since 1995, RFE/RL ...

that the Belarusian authorities are guided by

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

stereotypes in their unwillingness to recognize the existence of a "non-traditional sexual orientation" in Belarus. Tarletski added that the demonstrators also wanted to protest a recent seminar organized by the Belarusian Exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church at which some participants called homosexuals "servants of the devil" and proposed punishing them by electrocution. Two years later, during the action "Gays against Fascism", which took place on 3 July 2001 in the memorial complex to victims of

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

"Yama" in Minsk, Traletski stated:At the public action "Gays against fascism" which was held at memorial "''

Maly Trostenets extermination camp Maly Trostenets (Maly Trascianiec, , "Little Trostenets") is a village near Minsk in Belarus, formerly the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic. During Nazi Germany's occupation of the area during World War II (when the Germans referred to it as ...

"'' during the Belarus Gay Pride in Minsk on 5 September 5, 2001, Edward Tarletski said: In 1998–2005, Tarletski published and edited Belarusian LGBT magazines FORUM LAMBDA and TABOO. Between 1999 and 2002, Edward Tarletski held the position of Chairman of the Organizing Committee of Belarus Gay Pride ( Minsk Pride) festivals. In 2005, Edward Tarletski started his career as a drag entertainer in the LGBT club named ''Babylon'' in Minsk, Belarus.

Life in Ukraine

Being politically persecuted in Belarus, Tarletski moved to Ukraine in 2008, when he played the role of DIVA in the cult Russian movie ''Chapiteau-Show'' which won the prize of the XXXIII

Moscow Film Festival The Moscow International Film Festival (, translit. ''Moskóvskiy myezhdunaródniy kinofyestivál''; abbreviated as MIFF) is a film festival first held in Moscow in 1935 and became regular since 1959. From its inception to 1959, it was hel ...

. After that, Edward Tarletski focused on a career as a drag entertainer and later, he founded the famous Ukrainian

drag queen A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses Drag (entertainment), drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate Femininity, female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have ...

contest ″MISS DIVA″ in 2013. In February 2014, Edward Tarletski as Madame Zhu-Zhu took part in TV show "Zvana Vecherya" (Ukrainian version of the

My Kitchen Rules ''My Kitchen Rules'' (often abbreviated as ''MKR'') is an Australian competitive cooking game show broadcast on the Seven Network since 2010. The show is currently hosted and judged by chefs Manu Feildel and Colin Fassnidge, with Feildel being ...

), episodes 46–50 Being a popular artist in

night clubs A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighting displays, and a ...

of Ukraine, in 2015, Tarletski has participated as a drag performer in the music video ″WINGS″ '' Surrender album'' of the British duo

Hurts Hurts may refer to: * Pain, injury or suffering * Hurts (duo), British musical duo * Hurts (song), "Hurts" (song), by Emeli Sandé, 2016 * "Hurts", a song by Lany from ''LANY (album), LANY'', 2017 * "Hurts", a song by Mika from ''No Place in Heaven ...

. 2015 he applied for

political asylum The right of asylum, sometimes called right of political asylum (''asylum'' ), is a juridical concept, under which people persecuted by their own rulers might be protected by another sovereignty, sovereign authority, such as a second country or ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

, but his demand was refused. In 2018 he moved to Sweden.

Life in Sweden

Since 2018 Tarletski has lived in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, where he participates in the protest movement against the government of

Alexander Lukashenko Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko (also transliterated as Alyaksandr Ryhoravich Lukashenka; born 30 August 1954) is a Belarusian politician who has been the first and only president of Belarus since the office's establishment in 1994, making hi ...

.Därför kämpar Madam Zjuzju mot Belarus diktator – utanför Systembolaget

Filmography

Television credits

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tarletski, Edward Belarusian activists Belarusian human rights activists Belarusian dissidents Belarusian exiles Belarusian expatriates in Sweden Belarusian expatriates in Ukraine Ukrainian LGBTQ rights activists Free speech activists Belarusian drag queens Ukrainian drag queens Gay actors Gay comedians Gay musicians Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty people Journalists from Minsk Musicians from Minsk Belarusian male actors Ukrainian comedy musicians Ukrainian television presenters Ukrainian pop singers Ukrainian performance artists Belarusian gay men 20th-century Belarusian LGBTQ people 20th-century Belarusian writers 21st-century Belarusian LGBTQ people 1974 births Living people