In a Moscow apartment, Igor carefully emphasizes the drag queen Saffron’s eye contour with purple eyeliner and puts on false eyelashes. In a few days, all of this could be banned in Russia.
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In mid-November, the Russian Ministry of Justice called for “the international LGBT movement” to be classified as an “extremist organization” and banned. The Supreme Court must consider this application on Thursday.
If the measure is upheld, any activity linked to a “non-traditional” sexual orientation – the term used by authorities – could be punished as “extremism,” a crime punishable by stiff prison sentences.
To date, LGBT+ people face heavy fines, but no prison sentences, if they do not comply with existing laws, which were already tightened last year and ban homosexual “propaganda”. But the Russian justice system could go much further here.
“What we are doing is not extremism,” protests drag queen Saffron, dressed in a red jacket and sequined bra. She speaks to AFP during a make-up session at her boyfriend Igor’s apartment in a suburb of Moscow.
20-year-old Saffron, best known for his role as Valera, began performing in drag shows three years ago. A variety of services, she explains.
“You can have a person who creates a hypersexualized image (…) Then a very dramatic number that makes people cry and question their lives.” Then a totally weird number.”
On stage, Saffron prefers “very theatrical numbers” where, she says, she tries to talk to her audience about things “they would never have thought of before.”
“What scares me most is that we will lose this diversity of interesting thoughts, of people, this creativity…” worries the young drag queen.
Saffron also fears for “the safety” of his friends in the drag and LGBT+ communities.
Tighten the vise
For Igor – Kate Strafi as he transforms into a drag queen – the current Supreme Court case is in the logic of things in Russia.
“We can neither hold hands while walking down the street nor hug each other (…). “There was no opening before and logically we won’t have one,” says the 29-year-old young man.
Over the last decade, the rights of LGBT+ people have been drastically restricted under the leadership of Vladimir Putin, who, together with the Orthodox Church, claims to want to ban from public spaces behaviors considered deviant that were imported from the West.
Since 2013, a law has banned the “propaganda” of “non-traditional sexual relationships” against minors, a text denounced by NGOs as a tool of homophobic oppression.
This law was significantly expanded at the end of 2022. It now bans LGBT+ “propaganda” to all audiences, in the media, on the internet, in books and films.
In July, Russian lawmakers also passed a law targeting transgender people and banning them from transition options, including surgery and hormone therapy.
Mr Putin also regularly engages in anti-Western diatribes, often focusing on tolerance towards LGBT+ people.
“The only hope on the horizon is to leave the country, because they will continue to tighten the noose around us, it is unlikely that anything will change,” Igor regrets. According to him, these measures are aimed at “distracting society from the real problems” of the country.
For him, this repression represents a “massive trauma” for LGBT+ people living in Russia. “There are a lot of suicides,” he said.
He explains that in recent years he has taken measures to strengthen the security of his shows. For example, he removed the rainbow flag and banned the public from taking photographs at performances.
Saffron says she won’t give up despite the risks. “I want to have the inner strength to keep living, to live honestly,” she says.
“If you think what we’re doing is wrong, then you’re not interested in drag. Let people live their lives.”