Masha Gessen, Russian Journalist: Anti-Gay Legislation Is 'Creeping Fascism' (VIDEO)

Masha Gessen is not standing by as the Russian government cracks down on the country's gay and lesbian community. As an openly gay Russian investigative journalist, Gessen has not been shy about speaking out against the recent legislation banning gay "propaganda."

Although in the process of leaving Russia with her girlfriend and children, Gessen made efforts early on to launch the Pink Triangle Campaign in opposition to the propaganda law. She spoke out in a television appearance, rallying supporters behind an historic symbol of the gay community -- the pink triangle.

Recounting her experience, she told HuffPost Live's Marc Lamont Hill, "I went on the only independent television channel in Russia and I talked about my family... I said 'Look, these are my kids, this is my girlfriend, she just had a baby, and they're trying to go after my family.'"

"What they're doing with this law is they're enshrining second-class citizenship," she added. "So in that sense it's very much like the laws in Nazi Germany. It makes it a crime to say that a group is socially equal to another group. So I said this is creeping Fascism, and if you don't want us to become a Fascist country, then don't just stand by, put on a pink triangle."

Gessen admits that even she thought "there was no way that the country was going to pass something so hateful and so absurd." Much to her disbelief, she is now making the move back to the United States for her children's sake.

To hear more from Masha Gessen, watch the full segment HERE.