From Russia with LGBTQIA hate.
Russia’s Justice Ministry filed a lawsuit with the Supreme Court to cite the “international LGBT social movement” as an extremist organization, and – as such – impose a complete ban on its activities within Russia.
Specifics about the filing were not made widely available, so it is not known if the ministry was seeking the closure of specific LGBTQIA groups, or if the newer designation will be used to cover the entire LGBTQIA community.
Russia’s Supreme Court will consider case on November 30.
Amnesty International’s director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, Marie Struthers, said that this is a “deeply cynical move aimed at dehumanizing and persecuting the entire LGBTI community… Life in silence and in fear of humiliation and imprisonment –- this is the price that the state wants to impose on countless LGBTI people in Russia.”
Various anti-LGBTQIA moves have been made in Russia – e.g. in July, lawmakers banned medical intervention and administrative procedures that allowed people to change gender; last November, Russian lawmakers approved a bill banning all forms of LGBTQ “propaganda”; in 2013, the country passed law banning “gay propaganda”; and in 2020, a constitutional amendment was passed to stipulate that marriage is a union only between a man and a woman.
