In November, 2023, years of homophobic rhetoric and increased hostilities towards the LGBTQ+ community have culminated in The Russian Supreme Court declaring the so-called “International LGBTQ+ Public Movement'' an extremist organization, and subsequently outlawing any activities related to it. Even though this “movement” does not exist, as there is no leader, no ideology, and no legal entity to represent them, the Court still concluded that the practices of this supposed movement adhere to the established criteria of extremist activity. For example, the LGBTQ+ “movement” is accused of instigating social unrest in attempting to classify themselves superior to other citizens and change established traditional values, especially those pertaining to religion and heteronormative family structures.
Fast-forward to March of this year, this non-existent movement has been added to a list of terrorist organizations after the National Guard, the MVD (Ministry of Internal Affairs), and a local Nationalist group “ROO” conducted a violent raid of a gay bar in Orenburg. The raid resulted in the arrests of the founder, Vyacheslav Khasanov, the club’s art director, and the administrator. As the investigation is still ongoing, the exact penalties the victims are facing are currently unknown. It is possible, and indeed likely, that the staff is at risk of facing up to ten years in prison for the organization of “extremist” activities.
Organizers of such events are not the only ones affected by these new legislations. Queer activists are more likely to be targeted by the police, and can face up to six years in prison for participating in “extremist” actions. Anyone financing such activities can similarly face up to eight years in prison. Additionally, Meduza reports that people accused of breaking rules related to extremism may find themselves marked as terrorists by The Federal Financial Monitoring Service, which can have dire consequences on the financial freedom of the accused individuals and their families. Unsurprisingly, freedom of press is also at risk. Any publication writing about the LGBTQ+ community must make a disclaimer that it has been nationally recognized as an extremist organization, or risk a fine of 400 thousand rubles (roughly equivalent to 4000 Euros).
Many aspects of these changes to the legislation remain unclear. Court documents which demonstrate the arguments driving these new laws are sealed from public access. Additionally, the existing laws are vague and up to interpretation of the persecutor. There are no explicit guidelines stating what one is prohibited to do, say, wear, present as, besides the vague prohibition of “supporting and organizing extremist activities”. It is likely that discussing one’s sexuality can be interpreted as recruitment for the “movement”, and any positive or supportive statements towards the queer community may be viewed as propaganda and justification of extremist activities. However, the remaining uncertainty continues to instill fear in the common queer population, as they have no way of knowing what they might be punished for and when.
The ongoing trial of the Orenburg bar staff is the first criminal case related to the queer community since its addition to the list of extremist organizations. This means that even if the laws may remain vague, the outcome of this trial will demonstrate how these rules will play out in practice. While this may provide some clarity in estimating what behavior is punishable by law, the dismal reality is that queer people will only gain a better understanding of the ways in which they must suppress this critical aspect of their identity, exacerbating the already deplorable conditions of social isolation.
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But isolation is precisely the goal of these laws. Targeting and shutting down LGBTQ+ spaces deprives queer people of finding communities where they feel safe and understood. Community becomes especially crucial amidst widely disseminated social and media rhetoric that questions and vilifies their very existence. And while private gatherings are technically allowed, and it is not always possible to determine a meeting’s relation to the LGBTQ+ community at all, the government and the media will do their utmost to intimidate people from assembling by arbitrarily targeting queer spaces and individuals and making an example of them.
In February of this year, police burst into a birthday party taking place in a rented-out cottage in Koltushi. Attendees were interrogated about their relation to the LGBTQ+ “movement” and their gender identity. When the police could not determine someone’s gender just by looking at them, they forced these individuals to expose parts of their body as evidence. All this was accompanied by physical violence and verbal abuse.
Of course, the police cannot raid every single private party organized and attended by queer individuals. But the mere act of reporting these events in the state media, along with the vague reasons and methods the police used to track down these gatherings, sends out a clear message: you are always subject to the possibility of investigation and persecution. Living under this panopticon effect, people are unsure when exactly they are being watched. This fear alone can be detrimental to creating and upholding any sense of community.
The censorship of any queer related content in the media is also an attack on the personal and private life. Streaming services, namely Wink and Kinopoisk, have been fined around one million rubles (approximately ten thousand euros) for not flagging films which depict or even mention LGBTQ+ individuals as 18+. References and scenes related to queerness in new films and TV shows have been cut out by their distributors or simply muted and excluded from the subtitles. These restrictions add another layer of isolation for queer individuals. Films, plays, books, and other forms of entertainment have long been used as ways to reflect on issues permeating our society. Censoring media only suppresses important questions and alienates those that ask them.
Besides societal isolation, queer people will have limited-- if any-- options for psychological, social, or legal assistance as the government continues pressing down upon LGBTQ+ support centers and organizations. Accessing traditional psychiatric services puts queer people in a Catch-22 situation: the patient has to discuss their sexuality to contextualize their issues, but in turn risks being punished for bringing it up in the first place.
Dismissal of these services has been particularly devastating for transgender members of the community, as they often rely on receiving medical and legal assistance in the transitioning process. However, as of July 2023, gender affirming care has been outlawed. This means that transgender individuals are no longer able to access hormonal therapy and necessary surgical procedures. Further, the option to change one’s gender in official documents has been liquidated, and marriages with transgender spouses have been annulled. Transgender people are also unable to adopt or foster children. In short, the government’s conservative and repressive politics have been especially enforced onto the bodily autonomy of transgender individuals. Depriving them of these rights puts their lives in palpable risk, as the absence of gender-affirming care will doubtlessly increase suicide rates.
The start of these punitive measures against the LGBTQ+ community has commenced with explicit oppression of trans people. Besides being the first members to lose basic human rights, they have also been the main targets of media smear campaigns. The government’s continued crackdown on the remainder of the community sends an alarming message: anyone, at any point in time, can be deprived of their rights without impunity. And from the way latest events are unfolding, it seems like the government is committed to doing so until there is no opposition left.
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