This past November ,the Russian Court banned the global “LGBT Movement” on the grounds of the organization being an “extremist group” that goes against “traditional family values.”
Despite the LGBTQ+ community being a broad term, and not an organization within itself … rather a large umbrella that covers a diverse variety of folks, the Russian Court has banned activities held by the LGBTQ+ community and qualifies the community as an “extremist group.”
After the Justice Ministry in Russia announced the proposed lawsuit last year, an onslaught of public outcry and global reprimand did little to shift the ruling. Worries sprouted that the open-ended ban could encourage discrimination against LGBTQ+ folks and result in jail time for anyone engaging in LGBTQ+ activism or even non-heterosexual relationships and those expressing gender identities outside of the binary.
Before the ruling, Max Olenichev, a human rights lawyer working with the Russian LGBTQ+ community, told The Associated Press, “In practice, it could happen that the Russian authorities, with this court ruling in hand, will enforce (the ruling) against LGBTQ+ initiatives that work in Russia, considering them a part of this civic movement.”
Given the harsh sentencing associated with extremist organizations in Russia, participants and funders can face up to 12 years under the Criminal Code (and those displaying the group’s symbols can face 15 days in person for first-time offenses and up to four years for repeat offenders), concerns regarding how and when this ruling will be used persist.
Concerns were vindicated after Russian police raided multiple gay establishments in Moscow less than 48 hours after the ruling. Although the police claimed they conducted raids to search for drugs, queer LGBTQ+ club-goers found themselves under arrest and in fear of prison sentences this past December.
Sergei Troshin, a municipal deputy in St Petersburg who came out as gay last year, told BBC, “This is real repression. There is panic in Russia’s LGBT community. People are emigrating urgently. The actual word we’re using is evacuation. We’re having to evacuate from our own country. It’s terrible.”
President Vladimir Putin’s decade-long attack on LGBTQ+ folks finds justification in the guise of protecting “traditional family values.” The Kremlin adopted the “gay propaganda” law”—which prohibits any noncritical depiction of “non-traditional relationships” among minors—back in 2013.
Amidst the invasion of Ukraine, anti-LGBTQ+ legislation has continued to multiply. In 2022 the Kremlin expanded the “gay propaganda law” to include adults, essentially banning any depictions of queerness in Russian society. From outlawing gay marriage back in 2021 to the current ban on the entire LGBTQ+ community, Putin’s push for “traditional families” seems more like a push to eradicate queer people from Russia.
Although Russian officials say that this ban is not an attack on LGBTQ+ rights, it is hard to separate LGBTQ+ folks from the LGBTQ+ community. This begs the question, what is the LGBTQ+ community? And better yet, how does one qualify or not qualify as a member of this “extremist organization?”
Regardless of the sheer absurdity of this ruling, the safety of Russia’s queer community is only becoming more jeopardized.
