A rare look inside Sochi's gay club Mayak

SOCHI'S mayor made headlines when he claimed there are no gay people in the city. These pics inside one of at least two gay clubs in the Winter Games city tell a different story.

THE mayor of Sochi made headlines this week when he claimed there are no gay people in the city.

These pictures inside Mayak, one of at least two gay clubs in the Winter Olympics host city, tell a different story.

Anatoly Pakhomov, a member of President Vladimir Putin's United Russia party, was asked by the BBC whether gay people had to hide their sexuality in Sochi.

"No, we just say that it is your business, it's your life. But it's not accepted here in the Caucasus where we live. We do not have them in our city," he said.

When challenged, the mayor admitted that he was not certain there were no gay people in Sochi: "I am not sure, but I don't bloody know them."

Andrei Tenichev, owner of Mayak, does bloody know them. Here's a look inside his club.

Sergei Baklykov, front, with other dancers, has a break in a cabaret show in Mayak, one of the two gay clubs in Sochi.

Andrei Tenichev, owner of Mayak, poses in his club.

Russian gay rights activists march along a Moscow boulevard on January 19. Slogans read: 'Down with all Kinds of Fascism', 'Homophobia in to the Fire!', 'For Peace without Racism!', and 'Bisexuals Against Fascism'.

Dancers change costumes during a break in their show in Mayak.

Police guard as Russian gay rights activists march along a Moscow boulevard during a rally, in downtown on Sunday, January 19, 2014.

Dancers perform in Mayak.

A dancer prepares for a nightly cabaret show in Mayak.

Ballet dancers join Amnesty International activists during a photocall outside the Russian Embassy in London on January 29, 2014. The dancers performed parts of Swan Lake before handing in a petition asking that Russia's President Putin 'end his assault on freedom of expression and gay rights in Russia'.

A dancer poses during a break in a cabaret show in Mayak. Sochi will host the Winter Olympics amid President Vladimir Putin's harsh crackdown on gays.

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