Russia Pursues Lawsuit to Outlaw the LGBTQ+ Movement as ‘Extremist’

The Russian government has continued to take steps to criminalize and exhaust the nation’s LGBTQ+ community. The Justice Ministry in Russia announced last week that it has filed a lawsuit in the nation’s Supreme Court to label what it calls  the LGBTQ+ “international public movement” as extremist. 

When announcing the lawsuit in an online statement, authorities claim they identified “signs and manifestations of extremist nature” in “the activities of the LGBT movement active” in Russia. Of those manifestations they include “incitement of social and religious discord.” The ministry says that the Russian Supreme Court scheduled a hearing to consider the lawsuit at the end of November. 

The lawsuit is the latest and most drastic step in a now decade-long crackdown on LGBTQ+ rights in Russia instituted under President Vladimir Putin, who claims to be making “traditional family values” at the forefront of his rule. 

The story of that crackdown may sound familiar to Americans. In 2013, the Kremlin adopted legislation restricting LGBTQ rights banning any noncritical public depiction of “nontraditional sexual relations” among minors, what became known as the “gay propaganda” law. In 2020, Putin pushed through a slew of authoritarian constitutional reforms outlawing same-gender marriage, barring transgender people from adopting, and extending his rule by two more terms. 

Moscow ramped up its anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric in 2022 after its invasion of Ukraine. That same year, Russian authorities adopted a law banning “propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations” among adults as well, effectively outlawing any public endorsement of the LGBTQ+ community. The Kremlin claims it is protecting “traditional values.” The Deputy Chairman of the Duma, Pyotr Tolstoy, says the measure is about “erecting a barrier to the penetration of Western anti-family ideology.” 

In Russia, recognizing an organization as “extremist” has severe legal repercussions for those involved in its activities. “Organizers” can face up to 10 years in prison under the Criminal Code, and those who participate in the organization’s activities can face up to six years in prison. What’s more, the move would ban the symbols associated with the movement, and those found displaying those symbols would risk arrest and further prosecution. People under investigation for involvement face employment restrictions, are barred from seeking public office, and often have their bank accounts blocked. 

Russia has weaponized the “extremist” label against a host of human rights organizations and opposition groups, in an attempt to silence dissenting voices. 

“Russian authorities are once again forgetting that the LGBT+ community are human beings,” says Dilya Gafurova, who leads the Sphere human rights group from exile. Gafurova adds that Authorities “don’t want to just erase from the public field: they want to ban us as a social group.”