- Russia’s Supreme Court effectively outlaws LGBTQ+ activism in a landmark ruling
On Thursday, Russia’s Supreme Court banned LGBTQ+ activity, the most severe move against LGBTQ+ rights in the increasingly conservative nation.
In response to a Justice Ministry lawsuit, the court banned the LGBTQ+ “movement” in Russia as an extremist organisation.
The verdict follows a decade-long attack on LGBTQ+ rights in Russia under President Vladimir Putin, who has promoted “traditional family values” for 24 years.
Four hours were spent in closed-door session Thursday. Only Justice Ministry representatives were allowed in, and there was no defendant. Press were only allowed in the courtroom to hear Judge Oleg Nefedov read the verdict, who donned a mask for health concerns.
The case was classified, and the ministry merely said investigators had found “signs and manifestations of an extremist nature” in the movement it seeks to outlaw, including “incitement of social and religious discord.”
Multiple rights campaigners have emphasised that the case was filed against a non-official movement, and that Russian authorities might crack down on its members under its broad and imprecise description.
In practise, 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’, said Max Olenichev, a Russian LGBTQ+ human rights lawyer contacted by The Associated Press before the ruling.
Olenichev stated that the lawsuit targets activists and effectively bans LGBTQ+ rights activism.
Many Russian independent media outlets and rights groups put rainbow icons to their social media logos in support of LGBTQ+ people.
The verdict was “shameful and absurd,” according to Amnesty International, as it might outlaw LGBTQ+ organisations, infringe freedom of association, expression, and peaceful assembly, and lead to discrimination.
Marie Struthers, the group’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia director, said, “It will affect countless people, and its repercussions are poised to be nothing short of catastrophic.”
RIA Novosti reported that a Russian Orthodox Church official called the verdict “a form of moral self-defense by society” against efforts to remove “the Christian idea of marriage and family from the public and legal realms.”
No comment from the Justice Ministry.
Leading Russian human rights groups submitted a declaration with the court calling the lawsuit “anti-lawful,” discriminatory, and a violation of the constitution and Moscow’s signed international human rights treaties before the verdict. LGBTQ+ campaigners stated the judge denied their request to join the lawsuit.
Human rights activist and Russian LGBT Network founder Igor Kochetkov said, “We tried to find some legal logic in this absurdity.”
He told the AP, “We tried to appeal to the Supreme Court’s common sense and say: ‘Look, here I am, a person who’s been involved in LGBT activism for years, who’s been promoting these ideas — ideas of defending human rights, mind you — and this lawsuit concerns me.
“They don’t want any trial,” Kochetkov said. “They refuse to address this. This is the political order they follow. Russia’s justice is mostly over.”
The “gay propaganda” law, passed in 2013, banned public encouragement of “nontraditional sexual relations” among minors. Putin’s 2020 constitutional revisions to extend his power by two terms outlawed same-sex marriage.
After sending soldiers into Ukraine in 2022, the Kremlin harped on the West’s “degrading” influence, which rights groups interpreted as an attempt to legitimise the war. The government also banned adult propaganda of “nontraditional sexual relations” that year, thus barring LGBTQ+ endorsements.
Another law approved last year banned transgender transitioning and gender-affirming care. It barred “medical interventions aimed at changing the sex of a person,” as well as gender changes in official documents and public records. It also altered Russia’s Family Code to allow the annulment of a marriage for gender transformation and bar “who had changed gender” from becoming foster or adoptive parents.
“Do we want ‘Parent No. 1, No. 2, No. 3’ instead of ‘mum’ and ‘dad?’ in Russia?” Putin stated in September 2022. “Do we really want perversions that lead to degradation and extinction in our primary schools?”
Authorities deny LGBTQ+ prejudice. Deputy Justice Minister Andrei Loginov told Russian media this month that “the rights of LGBT people in Russia are protected” legally. His report on human rights in Russia to the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva stated that “restraining public demonstration of nontraditional sexual relationships or preferences is not a form of censure for them.”
Olenichev said the Supreme Court order restricts participation in, helping, or funding extremist organisations, using their emblems and symbols, or endorsing their ideology. A court-mandated ban on extremist organisations takes effect immediately, although these limits will begin 30 days after the ruling if a defendant doesn’t appeal.
These restrictions, such as which symbols will be banned, are unclear because the case is classified and will only become apparent in the first legal actions brought against activists, Olenichev said. Violating them exposes people to prosecution and possible prison terms.
He added this will likely reduce legal, psychological, and other support for LGBTQ+ Russians from rights groups and grassroots initiatives and make the community and its concerns less prominent.
“The authorities are doing everything to make the LGBT agenda disappear from the public square,” he said.
Olga Baranova, director of the Moscow Community Centre for LGBT+ Initiatives, said many will see leaving Russia before being targeted as their only option.
“It is clear for us that they’re once again making us out as a domestic enemy to shift the focus from all the other problems in Russia,” Baranova told AP.
Others want to stay and help LGBTQ+ people.
Dasha Yakovleva said Feminitive, a women’s group she co-founded, is the only one in Russia’s westernmost Kaliningrad area that supports LGBTQ+ individuals and will “look for ways” to continue.
She told AP that assisting LGBTQ+ persons express their rights is important.
“Since our state doesn’t intend to do that, it’s the task of our civil society to try to be an island of safety, advocacy, and connection with the international community,” Yakovleva added.
