In Russia the LGBT movement becomes illegal

translated by Angela Tagliafierro

Pro-LGBT = extremist?

Last week, the Russian Supreme Court declared the International LGBT movement “an extremist organization” after the Minister of the Justice had denounced the movement for spurring social and religious tensions. However, the International LGBT movement isn’t a real organization, and this action allows Russian authorities to criminalize not only LGBT activists, but also people who take part in activities related to LGBT rights: it is a de facto penalization of queer rights support.

According to the Russian Penal Law, financing or taking part in a criminal organization can be punished up to twelve years in prison; even showing a symbol of the organization, like a simple rainbow-brooch, can lead up to four years in prison. Furthermore, whoever may be suspected of being a member of the organization, may they be activists or supporters of the LGBT community, can be included in a list of extremists. Because of this suspect, the Government may freeze their credit or prohibit them from performing their duties in any public role. 

The legal increase in the last decade

The Kremlin has slapped more and more like “extremist” the unwelcome organizations. Among these, other than Navalny’s movement of opposition, there are Jehovah’s witnesses, whose presence in Russia is obstructed by the Russian Orthodox Church, and “Meta”, the company controlling Facebook and Instagram, accused by the Russian Government of spreading Russophobia.

Serious measures against LGBT groups have been taken after 2012, when Putin became President again. In 2013, the Russian Government approved a law who prohibits the “gay propaganda” with the explicit purpose of protecting children from any illustration or description, positive or neutral, of non-heterosexual relationship. In December 2022, the Parliament aggravated this law, applying it to all the contents or public actions supporting LGBT rights: physical person may pay fines for their diffusion up to 6500 dollars while for juridical persons, such as the ONGs, the fines may be imposed up to 81000 dollars for juridical persons, like ONG. Last summer, the authorities started to impose fines for whatever element they considered like pro-LGBT propaganda shown in online movies and TV series on the web. Then, in July, Putin signed a law, prohibiting gender transitions and sex changes on official identification documents. 

Discrimination as an instrument of the propaganda

Ivan Zhdanov, Executive Director of the foundation “Anti-Corruzione”, an organization founded by the imprisoned leader of the Opposition Aleksei A. Navalny – already categorized as an “extremist organization” – declared that this decision is the opening stroke of Putin’s Presidential Campaign and defined it as an example of a country like Russia being more and more isolated and emulating Iran's laws, one of his allies. Zhdanov wrote on X “A total distraction from serious problems, the creation of legendary enemies, the discrimination of people for any reason will be the next step. This is just the beginning.”

According to Tanya Lokshina, Member Director standing for Europe and Central Asia of “Human Rights Watch”, this decision hides a double purpose: increasing the conservative support to the Government, exploiting the Queer community with a view to the elections in March 2024, and stopping the job of all the communities who stand for the rights of the LGBT community.

As a matter of fact, the President Vladimir V. Putin tried to depict the long and troubled war he started against Ukraine as a potential expedient for the Western countries. The 65-year-old Russians are the main supporters of Putin, despite his promises and his negative attitude towards gay people: they identify with his promise of returning to the 1970 Russia, when homosexual rights and fluid sexuality weren't so explicitly shown in public. Last Friday, the dangerous effects of this battle of the values led to supposed raids in gay clubs in the capital city of Moscow. Policemen detained people and took pictures of their ID cards, declaring to be in search of drugs. Actually, the government does not think of being violating the rights of the LGBT community. Some days before their notification, the vice Minister of the Justice Andrei Loginov testified at the Council of the Human Rights of the United Nation in Geneva, stating that in Russia the rights of LGBT people are being protected and that limiting the public demonstration of non-traditional relationships or sexual orientations doesn’t mean censuring them.”

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