Russian court labels top LGBTQ rights group extremist
Russia has moved to tighten its crackdown on LGBTQ activism, with a court declaring the country’s leading LGBTQ rights group “extremist” — a ruling that effectively bans the organisation and exposes its supporters to prosecution.
Russia has moved to tighten its crackdown on LGBTQ activism, with a court declaring the country’s leading LGBTQ rights group “extremist” — a ruling that effectively bans the organisation and exposes its supporters to prosecution.
The decision marks the latest step in a years-long campaign against LGBTQ organisations, one that has intensified sharply since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and deepened an already forceful conservative shift.
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A court in Saint Petersburg sided with a case filed by the Russian justice ministry, agreeing to classify the Russian LGBT Network, one of the country’s most prominent LGBTQ rights nonprofits, as “extremist”.
“The public movement has been designated as an extremist organisation, and its activities are banned in Russia,” the court’s press service said on Telegram.
The ruling means anyone linked to the group could face lengthy prison terms for backing an extremist organisation — treatment under Russia’s criminal code comparable to terrorism-related charges.
Amnesty International had condemned the justice ministry’s push for the designation in February.
“This move reflects a deliberate strategy by the Kremlin to legitimise and weaponise homophobia in its assault on dissent and equality,” said Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia Director.
For years, Russian President Vladimir Putin has cast anything he says contradicts “traditional family values” as alien to Russia and the product of Western influence.
In 2023, Russia’s Supreme Court outlawed what it described as the “international social LGBT movement”, branding it an “extremist organisation”.
That widening crackdown has also swept up LGBTQ clubs and bars in recent years, with authorities raiding venues and detaining owners.
Russian courts, meanwhile, have handed down fines and short jail terms to people accused of displaying LGBTQ “symbols”, including clothing, jewellery or posters bearing the rainbow flag.
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