Russia has accused LGBTIQ+ groups of ‘extremism’. Now, it’s seeking to ban them

Key PointsThe proposed ban is the latest in a long-standing crackdown against LGBTIQ+ people in Russia.A court hearing has been scheduled for 30 November.Rights groups have criticised the announcement.

Russian officials said Friday they are seeking a ban on the “international LGBTIQ+ public movement,” building on a crackdown against liberal-leaning groups that has intensified since Moscow deployed troops to Ukraine.

Russia’s justice ministry said it had “lodged an administrative legal claim with the Supreme Court to recognise the International LGBTIQ+ public movement as extremist and ban its activity in Russia.”

The ministry did not specify whether it was seeking the closure of any specific groups or organisations, or if the designation would apply more broadly to the LGBTIQ+ community, causes and individuals.

The proposed ban is the latest in a long-standing crackdown against LGBTIQ+ people in Russia, which has escalated since Russia launched its offensive on Ukraine last February.

Russia has used the extremist label against swathes of rights organisations and opposition groups, opening up their members to criminal prosecution.

The justice ministry accused the LGBTIQ+ “movement operating on the territory of the Russian Federation” of “various signs and manifestations of extremism, including incitement to social and religious hatred”.

It did not specify what exactly it meant by that movement but said a court hearing was scheduled for 30 November.

The head of the Sphere human rights group, which advocates for the Russian LGBTIQ+ community, criticised the announcement.

“Russian authorities are once again forgetting that the LGBTIQ+ community are human beings,” said Sphere head Dilya Gafurova, who has left Russia.

Authorities “don’t just want to erase us from the public field: they want to ban us as a social group,” Gafurova added.

“It’s a pretty typical move for repressive non-democratic regimes — the persecution of the most vulnerable,” Gafurova said. “We will continue our fight,” Gafurova added.

Amnesty International’s director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, Marie Struthers, denounced a “deeply cynical move aimed at dehumanising and persecuting the entire LGBTIQ+ community.”

“Life in silence and in fear of humiliation and imprisonment –- this is the price that the state wants to impose on countless LGBTIQ+ people in Russia,” Amnesty added.

Since launching the Ukraine offensive — often portrayed as an existential fight against Western liberal values — Russia has accelerated its campaign against LGBTIQ+ groups.

In July lawmakers banned medical intervention and administrative procedures that allowed people to change gender.

Lawmaker Pyotr Tolstoy then said the bill was about “erecting a barrier to the penetration of Western anti-family ideology”.

Activists said they feared for the safety and well-being of transgender people in Russia.

Last November, Russian lawmakers also approved a bill banning all forms of “propaganda”, a move with far-reaching consequences for book publishing and film distribution.

Russia has for years been an inhospitable environment for anyone whose views differ from the hardline interpretation of “traditional values” promoted by the Kremlin and the Orthodox church.

The country passed a notorious ban on so-called “gay propaganda” in 2013. Initially only applying to content available to children, it has since been expanded.

Same-sex marriage was also effectively outlawed in 2020 by a constitutional amendment stipulating marriage is a union between a man and a woman.

Out of 49 European countries, the Rainbow Europe organisation ranked Russia third from the bottom in terms of tolerance of LGBTIQ+ people.

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