BY NBC NEWS
Friday night, less than 48 hours after the nation’s highest court outlawed what it labeled the “global LGBTQ+ movement” as a terrorist group, Russian security agents stormed homosexual clubs and pubs in Moscow.
Under the guise of a narcotics raid, police searched locations in the Russian capital, including a pub that held LGBTQ+ events, a nightclub, and a male sauna, according to local media.
Journalists were informed by eyewitnesses that security personnel inspected and took pictures of club patrons’ documents. They said that supervisors had the ability to alert customers before the cops showed there.
The searches come after the Russian Supreme Court declared the LGBTQ+ “movement” in the nation to be an extremist group.
President Vladimir Putin, who has prioritized “traditional family values” throughout his 24 years in office, has been cracking down on LGBTQ+ rights for the last ten years. The decision was rendered in response to a complaint brought by the Justice Ministry.
The complaint was filed against a movement that is not an established organization, and activists have pointed out that because of its sweeping and ambiguous description, authorities might repress anybody or any group that is thought to be associated with it.
Following the ruling, a number of LGBTQ+ establishments—including the gay bar Central Station in St. Petersburg—have already shuttered. The owner will no longer let the pub to function while the legislation was in place, it said on social media on Friday.
Before the decision, The Associated Press was informed by Max Olenichev, a human rights attorney who represents the LGBTQ+ community in Russia, that the verdict essentially outlaws organized efforts to uphold the rights of LGBTQ+ individuals.
With this court decision in hand, Olenichev said, “it could actually happen that the Russian authorities enforce (the ruling) against LGBTQ+ initiatives that work in Russia, considering them a part of this civic movement.”
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Leading human rights organizations in Russia had submitted a document with the Supreme Court prior to the decision, denouncing the Justice Ministry case as discriminatory and against the Russian constitution. The court rejected certain LGBTQ+ campaigners’ attempts to join the lawsuit as parties.
The first law limiting LGBTQ+ rights was passed by the Kremlin in 2013, and it is referred to as the “gay propaganda” law. It forbids any public support of “nontraditional sexual relations” between minors. In 2020, Putin pushed through constitutional amendments that prohibited same-sex marriage in an effort to prolong his authority for two more years.
Following its force deployment into Ukraine in 2022, the Kremlin intensified its drive to counter what it saw as the West’s “degrading” influence. Rights activists see it as an effort to give the war legitimacy. In the same year, a rule was established that forbade adult promotion about “nontraditional sexual relations,” so making it illegal to publicly support LGBTQ+ individuals.
This year, another legislation was enacted that outlawed gender transitioning practices and treatment that is affirming to transgender individuals. The law prohibited altering a person’s gender in official papers and public records, as well as any “medical interventions aimed at changing the sex of a person.”
Russian officials deny any prejudice against LGBTQ+ people. Deputy Justice Minister Andrei Loginov was cited by Russian media earlier this month as stating that “the rights of LGBT people in Russia are protected” by the law. He made the case that “restraining public demonstration of nontraditional sexual relationships or preferences is not a form of censure for them” when delivering a report on human rights in Russia to the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva.
The Supreme Court decision is under seal, and it’s not clear yet how restrictions will apply to LGBTQ+ activists and symbols.
Olga Baranova, head of the Moscow Community Center for LGBTQ+ Initiatives, predicted that many individuals would think about leaving Russia before they are singled out.
“We can clearly see that their intention is to paint us as a domestic enemy in order to deflect attention from the numerous other issues that Russia is facing,” Baranova told the AP.
