Moscow:
Russia’s Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that LGBT activists must be designated as “extremists”, a move that representatives of gay and transgender people fear could lead to arrest and prosecution.
The presiding judge announced that he supported the Justice Ministry’s request to ban “the international LGBT social movement”.
The move is part of a pattern of increasing restrictions on the expression of sexual orientation and gender identity in Russia, including laws banning the promotion of “non-traditional” sexual relations and legal or medical changes of gender.
UN human rights chief Volker Turk urged Russian authorities to “immediately repeal laws that impose unreasonable restrictions on the work of human rights defenders or that discriminate against LGBT people.”
President Vladimir Putin is expected to announce soon that he will seek a new six-year term in March, but he has long sought to promote Russia’s image as a guardian of traditional moral values in contrast to the decadent West.
In a speech last year, he said the West was welcome to adopt “in my view, dozens of new trends such as sex and gay parades”, but had no right to impose them on other countries.
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Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters before the court’s decision was announced that the Kremlin was “not following” the case and had no comment on it.
It took about five hours from the start of the proceedings for the court to deliver its verdict. The hearing was closed to the media, but journalists were allowed to hear the verdict.
LGBT activists had considered the decision inevitable after a 17 November request to the Justice Ministry, which stated – without giving examples – that “various signs and manifestations of extremist orientation, including inciting social and religious discord” had been identified. Activities of the LGBT movement in Russia.
Outside the court, LGBT activist Ada Blackwell said the verdict refuted official statements that Russia does not discriminate against LGBT people and provides them equal rights.
She said she was subjected to “conversion therapy” against her will for a year to convince her that she was not a transgender woman.
“In practice, after this lawsuit, I won’t be able to talk about conversion therapy,” she said.
People interviewed by Reuters on the streets of Moscow had varying views.
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A young woman named Lera said, “I want this world to be a free place where people can love whoever they want, although I have a neutral attitude towards all this because I am not in their shoes.” “But it would be very painful if I were refused love.”
Daniel, 20, said homosexual relationships are “not normal”.
He said, “I believe that at least most of the people I know, my friends and acquaintances, have a negative attitude towards homosexuality. So this is the right decision for our country.”
There are already more than 100 groups banned in Russia as “extremist”. Previous lists, for example of the religious movement of Jehovah’s Witnesses and organizations linked to opposition politician Alexei Navalny, have served as a prelude to arrests.
UN Human Rights Office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said the situation for the LBGT community in Russia was “going from bad to worse”, and that the lack of clarity about the court’s definition of “LGBT movement” left the law open to abuse. Have given.
“For the LGBT community, this means further repression of their fundamental rights,” he said.
