Russia adds 'international LGBT movement' to list of 'terrorists and extremists'

Russia added what it calls the “international LGBT movement” to its list of “terrorist and extremist” people and entities, according to a note from the financial intelligence service consulted on Friday by AFP.

The decision was announced after in November The Supreme Court declared this movement “extremist”, which in practice meant the illegalization of LGBTIQ activism in the country.

President Vladimir Putin, recently re-elected for a new six-year term, has been saying for some time that he defends “the family” and religion against a “decadent” and even “satanic” West.

Since the beginning of the military campaign in Ukraine launched in February 2022, the Russian authorities have in parallel, and increasingly, repressed sexual dissidence.

On Wednesday, The authorities announced, for example, that they had placed in preventive detention the managers of a bar in the Ural region, who now face a sentence of up to ten years in prison for LGBTIQ “extremism.”

According to the accusation, “during the investigation it was found that the accused, people with a non-traditional sexual orientation (…) also support the opinions and activities of the international LGBT public association, prohibited in our country.”

It is the first criminal case for this reason, although several Russian citizens have been sentenced to fines in recent weeks for publishing photos with rainbow flags or, in the case of two women, for posting a video of them kissing on the Internet.

Since 2013, A law in Russia prohibits “propaganda” among minors of “non-traditional sexual relations.”

This legislation was significantly expanded at the end of 2022, to prohibit any form of LGBTIQ “propaganda” in the media, internet, books and films.

In July 2023, Russian deputies also voted on a law banning surgical operations and hormonal therapies for transgender people.

AFP