Russia’s Supreme Court has ruled that the LGBT movement is considered extremist and has therefore banned its activities in the country.
“The request of the Ministry of Justice to recognize the LGBT movement as extremist is upheld”, the judge said, according to the Russian state news agency TASS.
The court’s decision will take effect immediately. The hearing was held behind closed doors due to the existence of classified material in the case; the defendant’s representatives did not appear in court. The court considered the evidence presented by the Ministry of Justice for about four hours, after which the executive part of the verdict was announced.
The Ministry of Justice had previously filed a lawsuit to ban the LGBTQ movement. The lawsuit noted that various signs and manifestations of extremism, including incitement to social and religious discord, had been identified in the movement’s activities on the territory of the Russian Federation.
Kristersson fumes
Several human rights organizations are highly critical of the decision, arguing, among other things, that the LGBTQ movement cannot be considered a separate organization with representatives.
“Another terrible example of the regime’s authoritarian intolerance and a brutal blow to the courageous LGBT movement in Russia, which is already fighting for its survival”, Sweden’s prime minister Ulf Kristersson (M) said in a statement to state broadcaster SVT.
Spreading LGBT propaganda is already banned in Russia, and cultural workers or website owners who try to popularize “non-traditional sexual relations” can be fined.
