Russia issues first convictions for LGBT ‘extremism’ following Supreme Court ruling

Russia has issued its first convictions in connection with so-called LGBTQ+ “extremism” following a Supreme Court decision to declare the “international public LGBT movement”, which does not exist, as an extremist group.

The infuriating ruling, which effectively outlaws LGBTQ+ activism, was made in November 2023 but didn’t come into effect until last month.

Already, the ruling has led to arrests, police raids of gay clubs, and the shut-down of a number of LGBTQ+ rights groups.

Russia has issued its first convictions in connection with so-called LGBTQ+ “extremism” following a Supreme Court decision. (Getty)

Now, Human Rights Watch (HRW) reports that Russian courts have issued their first extremism convictions.

According to Russian criminal law, anyone found guilty of participating in or financing an extremist organisation could face up to 12 years in prison, while those found guilty of displaying extremist group symbols – which now includes the Pride flag – face up to 15 days in detention for their first offence, and up to four years in prison for a repeat offence.

Among the recent convictions issued as a result of the Supreme Court ruling, are a woman who was sentenced to five days of detention for wearing rainbow-coloured earrings, and two individuals who were fined for posting a rainbow flag on their respective social media pages.

Commenting on these first known convictions, Tanya Lokshina, associate Europe and Central Asia director at HRW said: “The Supreme Court decision opened the floodgates to allow arbitrary prosecution of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people, along with anyone who defends their rights or expresses solidarity with them.

“For years, Russian authorities tried to erase LGBT visibility, and now they have criminalised it.”

Russian authorities have been pushing an anti-LGBTQ+ crackdown within their legislation since at least 2013, in an effort to suppress open discussions about sexuality and gender identity.

Last year, President Vladimir Putin made new amendments to Russia’s ‘gay propaganda’ law, extending it to adults.

The law, which was originally directed at content consumed by minors, forbids the distribution of materials that it deems as “promoting non-traditional values, LGBT, feminism, and a distorted representation of traditional sexual values.”

Individuals found to be in violation of the law can be fined up to 400,000 roubles (£5,466) while private companies in violation of the law can be fined up to five million roubles (£68,327).

Russia has also introduced laws banning gender-affirming procedures for trans people and prohibits what it described as “medical interventions aimed at changing the sex of a person.”