In 1920's England, perhaps to nobody's surprise, homosexual activity was (in some subcultures at least) far from uncommon. There is particular evidence of its frequency in the public schools (an isolated, same-sex society), among upper-class women (who were encouraged to form close bonds with each other, but not with men), and among the intelligentsia (perhaps in part as a result of the first two factors.) It is also probable (although Katya has personally gathered less evidence for it) that there was a comparatively high incidence among prostitutes (the only culture in England where sexual experimentation was the norm), in the Navy, in prison (isolated same-sex cultures), and in the Arts (a traditional bastion.)
Despite this, homosexual activity in England was, of course, illegal (particularly acts between men.) These laws were enforced - not too long before, Oscar Wilde had been sentenced to two years hard labor - and even when not enforced, blackmail was a common result of them if word got out. This resulted in a culture of extreme silence and paranoia on the subject, even among close friends. Coupled with British reserve about sexual matters in general, this often had extreme results. In one, not particularly out-of-the-ordinary example, two almost-certainly homosexual British mathematicians shared a flat, split bills, co-owned a cat, etc., but when their close friends were questioned about it many years later when the atmosphere was looser, not one had any idea whether the two were actually sleeping together or not.
Russia, throughout the medieval period and rennasissance, had been noted by travellers as being particularly tolerant of homosexuality. However, in the nineteenth century, Russia was caught up in the Victorian zeitgeist, and in the mid-1800's homosexuality was criminalized. By 1900-1917, the situation in Russia was very nearly exactly the same as that in England, although the Russian gay intelligentsia seems to have been a little more outspoken (For example, "Wings", perhaps the first coming-out novel, was written in Russia then.)
Exactly what attitudes towards, and the condition of, homosexual culture in post-Revolutionary Russia were is a matter of some debate among modern scholars - a lot of records didn't make it through all the turmoil. There are, however, a few inarguable facts, among them: homosexuality was thrown out of the criminal code immediately following the revolution, and it was not reintroduced as a crime in the revised codes of either 1922 or 1926. Whatever the situation was, it seems likely that things loosened up a bit once the threat of being sent to Siberia was removed, and Katya is quite proud of her country's comparatively advanced liberal attitudes.
Of course, in the early 1930's, Stalin introduced his "family values" program (I believe that may actually be a literal translation), which reversed the liberal Russian divorce, marriage, and abortion laws of the 1920's, and, of course, recriminalized homosexuality. Stalin even equated homosexuality with the rise of Fascism (bizarrely, given Nazi attitudes about gays.) Stalin's policies were ruthlessly enforced, and as late as the 1980's over a thousand arrests a year were being made and blackmail was rife. The situation in Russia didn't improve until 1989 under Gorbachev (popular legend has it that the fledgling gay rights groups were among those at the forefront of the resistance to the 1991 reactionary coup.)
Of course, in 1925, Stalin's measures are still a few years away, but someone with inside knowledge of Russian politics could very well see the possibility coming down the pike . . .
Pleasant dreams.
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