LGBTQ+ in Russia: Living under threat of extremism law

In late November, Russia's Supreme Court designated what it calls "the international LGBT movement" as "extremist." And while the law doesn't come into force until January 10, 2024, many anti-LGBTQ+ measures have already been taken. One day after the court ruling, at least three LGBTQ+-friendly clubs and saunas were raided in Moscow.

One person who wanted to remain anonymous told DW about a raid: "The police came and locked the door so that nobody could leave the club. The said they were looking for drugs. We had to lie face down on the floor. They didn't find anything but they took all our personal details and photographed our passports."

The Russian authorities have not yet commented on the raids. There has also been no mention of routine drug raids in the state media.

The impact on the LGBTQ+ community has been dramatic. "None of us can live in peace anymore," wrote one clubber on an online platform, adding that "we are constantly walking a fine line between 'propaganda' and 'extremism.'" Someone else wrote that they had stopped going to clubs as it was too dangerous.

Kremlin targeting dissent, freedom of speech and human rights

"This crosses a new line," Regina Dzugkoeva, a feminist and LGBTQ+ activist, told DW. "Raids, photographing passports and acts of intimidation have happened before. But these measures were mostly directed against organizations and activists, not against ordinary LGBTQ people in Russia."

The country's LGBTQ+ community has been subjected to ever more severe persecution in recent years. In 2013, a law banning the dissemination of supposed LGBTQ+ "propaganda" among minors came into force. In 2022, the ban was extended to all age groups. It applies a very broad definition of "propaganda" that criminalizes people who come out or even suggest that sexual orientations other than heterosexuality are normal.

The law was approved by Russian President Vladimir Putin just days after Russia's highly restrictive "foreign agents" legislation was further tightened. The Kremlin has been using it to target dissent, and impose even more restrictions on freedom of speech and human rights.

Self-censorship on the rise

The broadening of the 2022 "gay propaganda" law has led to increased self-censorship, according to LGBTQ+ activist Svetlana Shaytanova.

"Russian history shows that self-censorship is the most effective form of censorship," she told DW. "Under Stalin, certain things were banned and then publicly punished. People then resorted to self-censorship out of fear." Shaytanova was certain that this would happen again.

TNT Music, a Russian television channel, edited out a rainbow flag that featured in a music video by the K-pop band Seventeen even before the legislation was tightened. The original "God of Music" video showed band members dancing in a meadow under a multicolored rainbow. It has now been swapped out for gray clouds.

In July, a Moscow court fined the owner of TNT Music, Fonbet TV, 1 million roubles (€10,000/$11,100) after it broadcast a music video for Finnish singer Alma's "Summer Really Hurt Us," that shows two women dancing and kissing. The court said the video violated Russia's propaganda law. According to Russian media, there are four similar cases in court right now, with one that could end with a fine of up to 16 million roubles (€160,000/$175,000) looming.

Russian music channel AIVA has also been fined 50,000 roubles (€500/$549) for airing a video by Sergey Lazarev, who twice represented Russia at the Eurovision Song Contest, coming third both times. The video in question — titled "Tak krasivo," or "So beautiful" — is R-rated and shows same-sex couples holding hands. The authorities said it was propaganda for "nontraditional" sexual relationships.

Lena Katina and Julia Volkova, who make up internationally renowned girl band t.A.T.u. and are known for kissing onstage and in their videos, are considered queer icons — though they reportedly don't identity as LGBTQ+. Last year, administrators of Russia's VKontakte social media network voluntarily deleted all pictures of the pair kissing.  Access to further band-related posts, photos and videos has apparently now been blocked.

Bans and closures

Cinema, literature and theater have also been affected by self-censorship and bans. Russian broadcaster STS Love has removed three episodes of a TV series about two drag queens in a gay club from its media library. Books that even allude to "nontraditional" sexual relationships are being banned. And last year, Moscow's Bolshoi Theater canceled a play about the world-famous Russian ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev because he was openly gay.

The extremism law has already led to the closure of places where people from the LGBTQ+ community regularly meet, for example Central Station, the oldest gay club in St. Petersburg.

"The landlord refused to let us work because of the [new] law," the owner wrote on VKontakte. "We apologize but we are no longer in business."

"There will always be LGBTQ people in Russia, as there has always been," Dzugkoeva told DW, but she expects that many will also move abroad.

"We are receiving more and more messages from people from in Russia telling us their stories, saying they are afraid, desperate and want to leave the country," she said.

"But of course not everyone can just leave," said fellow activist Shaytanova.

This article was originally written in German.