A corresponding hearing is already scheduled for November 30th.
The Russian government said it requested a ban on the LGBT movement on Friday because of “extremism”. The Russian Justice Ministry filed an administrative claim with the Supreme Court “to recognize the international LGBT movement as extremist and ban its activities in Russia,” the ministry said in a statement. A corresponding hearing is therefore scheduled for November 30th.
It was not immediately clear from the ministry’s brief statement whether the proposed ban would apply to the LGBT movement in general or specific organizations.
Since the Russian offensive in Ukraine began in February 2022, Russian authorities have taken stricter measures against LGBTQ people. Russia presents itself as a moral bulwark against the decadence of the West and bases its actions particularly on the protection of children.
Russia’s leadership is “once again forgetting” that the LGBTQ community “are human beings, citizens of this country like everyone else,” Diliya Gafurova, director of Fund Sphere, an organization that defends LGBTQ rights in Russia, told AFP. With the new proposed law, the government wants “not only to make us disappear from public space, but also to banish us as a social group”. The English abbreviation LGBTQ stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer.