Revision as of 03:48, 1 November 2013 view sourceFinalyzer (talk | contribs)330 edits The statement has been made by the Human Rights office rather than UN.← Previous edit | Latest revision as of 02:54, 21 December 2024 view source GreenC bot (talk | contribs)Bots2,555,770 edits Reformat 1 archive link. Wayback Medic 2.5 per WP:USURPURL and JUDI batch #20 | ||
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{{Infobox LGBT rights | {{Infobox LGBT rights | ||
| location_header = |
| location_header = ] | ||
| image = Russian Federation (orthographic projection).svg | | image = Russian Federation (orthographic projection) - All Territorial Disputes.svg | ||
| legal_status = Same-sex sexual activity legal since 1993 for consenting men and not criminalised for women.<ref name=RUS33940>{{cite web|title=Russia: Update to RUS13194 of 16 February 1993 on the treatment of homosexuals|publisher=Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada|date=29 February 2000|url=http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/3ae6ad788c.html|access-date=21 May 2009|archive-date=8 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121008022812/http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/3ae6ad788c.html|url-status=live}}</ref> "Promotion" of LGBT identity illegal since 2013 (homosexuality) and 2022 (trans identity) | |||
| caption = Russia | |||
| penalty = In ]: up to death since 2017{{refn|group=note|Chechen authorities have reportedly arrested, imprisoned and killed persons based on their perceived sexual orientation in ].<ref name=NovayaGazeta/><ref name="KramerNYT">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/01/world/europe/chechen-authorities-arresting-and-killing-gay-men-russian-paper-says.html|title=Chechen Authorities Arresting and Killing Gay Men, Russian Paper Says|first=Andrew E.|last=Kramer|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1 April 2017|access-date=15 April 2017|archive-date=28 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190428122004/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/01/world/europe/chechen-authorities-arresting-and-killing-gay-men-russian-paper-says.html|url-status=live}}</ref>}} | |||
| legal_status = Decriminalised in 1917; Re-criminalised in 1933; Legal since 1993<ref name=RUS33940>{{cite web|title=Russia: Update to RUS13194 of 16 February 1993 on the treatment of homosexuals|publisher=|date=29 February 2000|url=http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/3ae6ad788c.html|accessdate=21 May 2009}}</ref><br/>Age of consent ] since 2003 | |||
| gender_identity_expression = Gender change legal between 1997 and 2023, illegal afterwards | |||
| gender_identity_expression = Legal gender change since 1997<ref group=note name=gender_identity>The Federal Law ''On Acts of Civil Status'' (1997) provides for the possibility to rectify acts of civil status based on the document confirming sex transformation issued by a health institution (art.70). Also, transgender people can change their passport on the grounds of sex transformation. See the <u>Administrative Legislation</u> section of the ].</ref><!-- <br/>(]) --> | |||
| recognition_of_relationships = |
| recognition_of_relationships = ] | ||
| recognition_of_relationships_restrictions = ] constitutionally banned since 2020{{efn|group=note|In the ], marriage is defined as being between a man and woman, thereby banning same-sex marriage.<ref name="Times-3Mar20">{{cite news |last1=Kramer |first1=Andrew E. |title=Putin Proposes Constitutional Ban on Gay Marriage |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/03/world/europe/putin-proposes-constitutional-ban-on-gay-marriage.html |accessdate=8 June 2020 |work=] |date=3 March 2020 |quote=By including an amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman, "they are reinventing the vote as a referendum for traditional values," said Ekaterina Schulmann, a Moscow-based political scientist. |archive-date=18 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210118115735/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/03/world/europe/putin-proposes-constitutional-ban-on-gay-marriage.html |url-status=live }}</ref>}} | |||
| recognition_of_relationships_restrictions = Article 12 of ] de facto states that marriage is a union of a man and a woman | |||
| adoption |
| adoption = Allowed to adopt by a single person<ref group=note name=adoption>Adoption is regulated by the ] (); ] (); Federal Law ''On Acts of Civil Status'' (). None of these documents contain any direct restriction or ban for homosexual people to adopt, though unmarried couples are not allowed to adopt children (Article 127.2 of the ]), and since ] is not officially recognized, gay couples cannot adopt children together; nevertheless, single individuals can adopt (see also the <u>Parent Relations</u> section of the ]). The Court makes the decision to allow or deny adoption considering many documents and testimonies, so it is unclear whether ] affiliation of the candidate adopter can be in fact an issue for a judge to make a negative decision.</ref> | ||
| military = LGBT people can serve in the army, there are no restrictions.<ref name="ksmrus.ru">{{cite web | url=https://ksmrus.ru/info/berut-li-geev-v-armiyu/ | title=Геи, гомосексулисты и армия || Комитет солдатских матерей России }}</ref> | |||
| military = Non-official policy "]" since 2003<ref name=milserv>{{cite web|title=Gays are not Willingly Accepted in the Russian Army|work=|date=1 December 2003|url=http://english.pravda.ru/main/18/90/362/11406_GayArmy.html|accessdate=20 May 2009}}</ref> | |||
| discrimination_protections = None <!-- (]) --> | | discrimination_protections = None <!-- (]) --> | ||
}} | }} | ||
{{LGBT rights}} | |||
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people in ] face severe legal and social challenges not experienced by non-LGBTQ residents.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Noyce |first1=Eleanor |title=Russia declares My Little Pony 18+ in ongoing anti-LGBTQ crackdown |url=https://www.thepinknews.com/2023/12/07/russia-my-little-pony-18/ |website=PinkNews |date=7 December 2023 |access-date=7 December 2023 |quote=Russia's crackdown on LGBTQ+ rights has continued unabated for a number of years, with President Vladimir Putin introducing a long line of homophobic legislation.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Baska |first1=Maggie |title=Russian police raid alleged 'anti-war LGBTQ+ party', say state media |url=https://www.thepinknews.com/2024/02/23/russia-police-raid-alleged-anti-war-lgbtq-party-state-media/ |website=PinkNews |date=23 February 2024 |access-date=23 February 2024}}</ref> Although sexual activity between consenting adults of the same sex is legal,<ref name=RUS33940 /> homosexuality is disapproved of by most of the population and pro-LGBTQ advocacy groups are deemed "extremist" and banned. It is illegal for individuals to "promote homosexuality" and same-sex couples and households headed by same-sex couples are ineligible for the legal protections available to opposite-sex couples. Russia provides no anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ people and does not have a designation for ]s based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Transgender people are not allowed to change their legal gender and all gender-affirming care is banned. There are currently no laws prohibiting discrimination based on gender identity or expression, and recent laws could be used to discriminate against transgender residents. | |||
'''Lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender''' (''']''') persons in ] face legal and social challenges, as well as discrimination not experienced by non-] citizens. Although same-sex sexual activity between consenting adults in private was decriminalized in 1993,<ref name=RUS33940/> there are currently no laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity and expression, and households headed by same-sex couples are ineligible for the legal protections available to opposite-sex couples. The ] has been the same for same-sex relations as for heterosexual relations since 2003, and ] was declassified as a ] in 1999. Transsexuals have been able to change their legal gender since 1997. | |||
Russia has long held strongly negative views regarding homosexuality, with recent polls indicating that a majority of Russians are against the acceptance of homosexuality and have shown support for laws discriminating against homosexuals. Despite receiving international criticism for the recent increase in social discrimination, crimes, and violence against homosexuals, larger cities such as ]<ref name="theguardian.com">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/jun/13/gay-putin-moscow-life-nightlife-clubbing-law-lgbt|title=Gay in Putin's Moscow: why the city is pinker than you think|work=]|date=13 June 2015|access-date=16 May 2017|archive-date=20 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190520141100/https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/jun/13/gay-putin-moscow-life-nightlife-clubbing-law-lgbt|url-status=live}}</ref> and ]<ref name="dailyxtra.com">{{cite news|url=http://www.dailyxtra.com/world/travel/inside-the-gay-club-scene-in-st-petersburg-russia-86049|title=Inside the gay club scene in St Petersburg, Russia|work=]|date=May 31, 2014|access-date=16 May 2017|archive-date=4 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170604153436/http://www.dailyxtra.com/world/travel/inside-the-gay-club-scene-in-st-petersburg-russia-86049|url-status=live}}</ref> have been said{{by whom?|date=October 2024}} to have a thriving ]. However, there has been a historic resistance to ]s by local governments; despite being fined by the ] in 2010 for interpreting it as discrimination, the city of Moscow denied 100 individual requests for permission to hold ] through 2012, citing a risk of violence against participants. In 2016, Russia was rated the second least LGBT-friendly nation in Europe by ].<ref name="litvinova">{{cite news |last=Litvinova |first=Daria |title=LGBT hate crimes double in Russia after ban on 'gay propaganda' |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-lgbt-crime/lgbt-hate-crimes-double-in-russia-after-ban-on-gay-propaganda-idUSKBN1DL2FM |access-date=12 July 2023 |work=Reuters |date=21 November 2017 |language=en |archive-date=12 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230712042317/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-lgbt-crime/lgbt-hate-crimes-double-in-russia-after-ban-on-gay-propaganda-idUSKBN1DL2FM |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2024, the status of LGBTQ rights in Russia was ranked the worst out of the 49 countries surveyed within Europe.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rainbow Map |url=https://rainbowmap.ilga-europe.org/ | publisher=] | access-date=June 20, 2024}}</ref> | |||
Russia has recently received criticism from around the world and across the international community for enacting a law that bans the distribution of "propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations" to minors.<ref name=guardianpropaganda>{{cite news|last=Elder|first=Miriam|title=Russia passes law banning gay 'propaganda'|url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/11/russia-law-banning-gay-propaganda|newspaper=The Guardian|date=11 June 2013}}</ref> According to the some commentators the new law makes it illegal to hold any sort of public demonstration in favor of gay rights,<ref>{{cite news|title=Putin signs 'blasphemy' and 'gay propaganda' bills|url=http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/putin-signs-blasphemy-and-gay-propaganda-bills/482516.html|newspaper=Moscow Times|date=2 July 2013}}</ref> speak in defense of gay rights and distribute material related to gay rights,<ref>http://www.hrw.org/news/2013/09/05/russia-use-leadership-repeal-discriminatory-propaganda-law</ref> or to state that gay relationships are equal to heterosexual relationships.<ref>http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2013/09/06/obama-meets-with-gay-rights-activists-in-russia/</ref><ref name=wsjpropagandabill>{{cite news|last=Alpert|first=Lukas I.|title=Russia passes bill banning gay 'propaganda'|url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323495604578539220032220406.html|newspaper=Wall Street Journal|date=11 June 2013}}</ref> | |||
In December 1917, after the ], the ] (later the Russian SFSR) decriminalised homosexuality.<ref name="ReferenceA"></ref> However, the ] under ] would later recriminalise sex between men in March 1934 with the addition of Article 154-a to the Soviet criminal code, which punished consensual anal sex between men with three to five years' imprisonment.{{sfn|Engelstein|1995|p=169}} The revised criminal code of 1961 continued to classify sexual relations between men as a crime, relocating it to Article 121 and providing for only a maximum of five years' imprisonment for consensual sex.<ref name="1961code">{{cite Q|Q4469075|page=49}}</ref> Western observers estimated that, during the Soviet era, between 800 and 1000 men were imprisoned per year under Article 121.<ref name=RUS98001.zar>{{Cite web|url=https://www.uscis.gov/archive/archived-resources/resource-information-center-russia-2|title=Resource Information Center: Russia|date=14 October 2015|website=USCIS|access-date=25 November 2022|archive-date=23 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200523114704/https://www.uscis.gov/archive/archived-resources/resource-information-center-russia-2|url-status=live}}</ref> After the ], homosexual acts between consenting males were re-legalised in 1993 (they had not been criminalised for women), removing Article 121 from the RSFSR penal code.<ref name=RUS33940/> | |||
International human rights organisations<ref>http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/russia-lgbti-g20-2013-09-04</ref><ref>http://americablog.com/2013/06/human-rights-watch-blasts-olympics-over-growing-anti-gay-hate-in-russia.html</ref> and the governments of developed democracies around the world have strongly condemned this Russian law.<ref>http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2013/08/15/danish-government-warns-russia-over-anti-gay-law/</ref><ref>http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/australian-foreign-minister-condemns-russia’s-“gay-propaganda”-ban230813</ref> The ] has condemned this Russian statute and another similar one in Moldova (which was later repealed)<ref>http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/moldova-repeals-‘gay-propaganda’-ban141013</ref> as discriminatory and has made clear that the Russian statute in question is a violation of international human rights law,<ref>http://76crimes.com/2013/08/18/u-n-rights-office-rejects-anti-gay-laws-of-russia-moldava/</ref><ref>http://southfloridagaynews.com/articles/united-nations-asks-russia-to-kill-anti-gay-propaganda-bill/108674</ref> including the right of gay children to receive proper information.<ref>http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=12964&LangID=E</ref><ref>http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/german-and-eu-foreign-ministers-slam-russia-gay-rights300113</ref> The ] has condemned Russia for homophobic discrimination and censorship<ref>http://secular-europe-campaign.org/2013/08/eu-the-european-parliament-has-adopted-a-resolution-condemning-russian-homophobic-censorship-law/</ref> and the ] has called on Russia to protect LGBT rights properly.<ref>http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/22/us-russia-europe-lgbt-idUSBRE94L0IY20130522</ref> The ] had previously fined Russia for other infringements of LGBT rights.<ref>http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11598590</ref> In 2012 the UN Human Rights Committee ruled that a similar statute in the Russia's Ryazan Region was discriminatory, infringed on freedom of expression, and was inadmissible under international law - a Russian court in Ryazan later agreed and struck it down.<ref>http://www.ijrcenter.org/2012/12/03/un-human-rights-committee-homosexual-propaganda-conviction-violated-freedom-of-expression/#sthash.KfCC9EKW.dpbs</ref><ref>http://thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/a-russian-court-has-struck-down-a-russian-citys-gay-propaganda-law/news/2013/10/03/76206</ref> | |||
Since 2006, under ], regions in Russia have enacted varying laws restricting the distribution of materials promoting LGBTQ relationships to minors; in June 2013, a ] in support of non-traditional sexual relationships was enacted as an amendment to an ].<ref name="ie-hunted">{{cite web |author1=Paul Gallagher |author2=Vanessa Thorpe |date=2 February 2014 |title=Shocking footage of anti-gay groups |url=http://www.independent.ie/world-news/europe/shocking-footage-of-antigay-groups-29971549.html |access-date=12 February 2014 |newspaper=] |archive-date=23 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191023014050/https://www.independent.ie/world-news/europe/shocking-footage-of-antigay-groups-29971549.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The law has resulted in the numerous arrests of Russian LGBTQ citizens publicly opposing the law and there has reportedly been a surge of anti-gay protests, ], and even ]. It has received international criticism from ] observers, ], and media outlets and has been viewed as a ''de facto'' means of criminalizing ].<ref name=guardianpropaganda>{{cite news|last=Elder|first=Miriam|title=Russia passes law banning gay 'propaganda'|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/11/russia-law-banning-gay-propaganda|newspaper=The Guardian|date=11 June 2013|access-date=15 December 2016|archive-date=10 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200410184402/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/11/russia-law-banning-gay-propaganda|url-status=live}}</ref> The law was ruled to be inconsistent with protection of freedom of expression by the European Court of Human Rights but as of 2021 has not been repealed.<ref name=":5">{{cite web |title=Dismantling LGBT+ rights as a means of control in Russia |url=https://freedomhouse.org/article/dismantling-lgbt-rights-means-control-russia |website=Freedom House |access-date=13 August 2021 |language=en |archive-date=13 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210813003422/https://freedomhouse.org/article/dismantling-lgbt-rights-means-control-russia |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2022, the law was extended to apply to anyone regardless of age, thus making any expression deemed a promotion of non-traditional sexual relationships illegal.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Farrant |first=Theo |date=2022-12-06 |title=From museums to books: How Russia's anti-LGBT laws will impact culture |url=https://www.euronews.com/culture/2022/12/06/from-museums-to-book-publishing-how-russias-new-anti-lgbtq-laws-will-impact-culture |access-date=2022-12-08 |website=euronews |language=en |archive-date=8 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221208045708/https://www.euronews.com/culture/2022/12/06/from-museums-to-book-publishing-how-russias-new-anti-lgbtq-laws-will-impact-culture |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |author1=Ivana Kottasová |author2=Anna Chernova |date=2022-12-05 |title=Putin signs expanded anti-LGBTQ laws in Russia, in latest crackdown on rights |url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/05/europe/russia-lgbtq-propaganda-law-signed-by-putin-intl/index.html |access-date=2022-12-08 |website=CNN |language=en |archive-date=8 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221208045715/https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/05/europe/russia-lgbtq-propaganda-law-signed-by-putin-intl/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
Since the passage of the anti-gay propaganda law, the media has reported the arrest of a ]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.queerty.com/arrested-by-his-parents-gay-russian-activist-to-be-first-person-convicted-under-propaganda-law-20130904/|title=Arrested By His Parents, Gay Russian Activist To Be First Person Convicted Under Propaganda Law|work=]|date=2013-09-04|accessdate=2013-09-24}}</ref> as well as a surging incidence of hate crimes motivated by ],<ref name=homophobicviolence>{{cite news|last=Luhn|first=Alec|title=Russian anti-gay law prompts rise in homophobic violence|url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/01/russia-rise-homophobic-violence|newspaper=The Guardian|date=1 September 2013}}</ref><ref name=fthomophobicviolence>{{cite news|last=Weaver|first=Courtney|title=Russia gay propaganda law fuels homophobic attacks|newspaper=Financial Times|date=16 August 2013}}</ref> including hate crimes perpetrated by neo-Nazi groups against gay minors.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/26/russian-nazi-torture-gay-teens_n_3658636.html|title= Russian Neo-Nazis Allegedly Lure, Torture Gay Teens With Online Dating Scam |work=]|date=2013-08-07}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2013/08/06/gay-teenager-kidnapped-and-tortured-by-russian-homophobes-believed-to-have-died-from-injuries/|title=Gay teenager kidnapped and tortured by Russian homophobes claimed to have died from injuries|work=]|date=2013-08-06|accessdate=2013-09-24}}</ref>A law prohibiting ] parades in ] for one-hundred years has also recently been enacted.<ref>http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-19293465</ref> International rights groups have described the current situation as the worst human rights climate in the post-] era, while Russian human rights activist ] has called passage of the law against gay propaganda "a step toward the ]."<ref name="theguardian.com">http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/11/russia-law-banning-gay-propaganda</ref><ref name="theguardian.com"/> Many ] celebrities and activists are openly opposed to the law and have encouraged a ] of all Russian products—especially Russian vodka<ref name=CNNvodka>{{cite news|last=Smith-Spark|first=Laura|last2=Black|first2=Phil|title=Protests, boycott calls as anger grows over Russia anti-gay propaganda laws|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2013/08/01/world/europe/russia-gay-rights-controversy|agency=CNN|date=4 August 2013}}</ref>— and a boycott of the ], which are scheduled to be held in ], unless the Games are ] out of Russia.<ref>http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2013/08/05/lady-gaga-the-russian-government-is-criminal-in-its-oppression-of-lgbt-people/</ref><ref>http://www.stephenfry.com/2013/08/07/an-open-letter-to-david-cameron-and-the-ioc/</ref><ref name=huffingtonboycott>{{cite news|last=Crary|first=David|last2=Leff|first2=Lisa|title=Russia's anti-gay laws impact Olympics, vodka sales|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/29/russia-gay-laws-olympics-_n_3672746.html|newspaper=Huffington Post|date=29 July 2013}}</ref> | |||
In a report issued on 13 April 2017, a panel of five expert advisors to the ]—], Sètondji Roland Adjovi; ]; ]; and ]—condemned ].<ref name="Chan">Sewell Chan, {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170428072951/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/13/world/europe/un-chechnya-gay-men-killing-abuse.html |date=28 April 2017 }}, ''New York Times'' (13 April 2017).</ref><ref name="UNHCHRApril2017"> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170710050620/http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=21501&LangID=E |date=10 July 2017 }}, ] (April 13, 2017).</ref> | |||
In keeping with receiving heavy opposition from its LGBT community, Russia has been described as being socially ] on issues of LGBT rights,<ref>http://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/Smith-CrossNational-NORC-May-2011.pdf</ref> with recent polls indicating that a large majority of Russian citizens oppose the legal recognition of ] and support the laws enacted against its LGBT citizens.<ref>http://www.gayrussia.ru/en/news/detail.php?ID=1459</ref><ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/12/world/europe/gays-in-russia-find-no-haven-despite-support-from-the-west.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0</ref> Regardless, larger cities such as Moscow and ] have been described as being more tolerant in accepting homosexuals and transsexuals and are also known to have a thriving ]. | |||
Since the ], the authorities have ], particularly against trans people.<ref name=":3" /> On 24 July 2023, President Putin signed into law a bill {{Ill|Law banning gender transition in Russia|lt=banning|ru|Закон о запрете трансгендерного перехода в России}} ] in Russia.<ref name="NBC News">{{cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-news/russian-president-signs-legislation-outlawing-gender-affirming-procedu-rcna96017|title=Russian president signs legislation outlawing gender-affirming procedures|date=24 July 2023|work=NBC News|access-date=24 July 2023|archive-date=24 July 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230724200633/https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-news/russian-president-signs-legislation-outlawing-gender-affirming-procedu-rcna96017|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
==History== | |||
{{main|LGBT history in Russia}} | |||
On 30 November 2023, the ] ruled the ] to be "extremist", outlawing it in the country.<ref name="skynews">{{Cite web |title=Russian Supreme Court bans the whole LGBTQ movement and brands activists 'extremists' |url=https://news.sky.com/story/russian-supreme-court-bans-the-whole-lgbtq-movement-and-brands-activists-extremists-13019582 |date=2023-11-30 |access-date=2023-12-01 |website=Sky News |language=en | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231130214612/https://news.sky.com/story/russian-supreme-court-bans-the-whole-lgbtq-movement-and-brands-activists-extremists-13019582 | archive-date=2023-11-30 | url-status=live}}</ref> The next day, Russian security forces raided bars, male saunas and nightclubs across Moscow.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Police raid Moscow gay bars after a Supreme Court ruling labeled LGBTQ+ movement 'extremist' |url=https://www.carolinacoastonline.com/national/article_20dd437e-9105-11ee-ba1e-cf1d6bf05536.html | date=2023-12-02 |access-date=2023-12-04 |website=Carolina Coast Online | agency=Associated Press |language=en | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231202114321/https://www.carolinacoastonline.com/national/article_20dd437e-9105-11ee-ba1e-cf1d6bf05536.html | archive-date=2023-12-02 | url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last1=Tarasova |first1=Darya |last2=Tuysuz |first2=Gul |last3=Deaton |first3=Jen |date=2023-12-04 |title=Police raid gay venues in Russia after top court bans 'international LGBTQ movement' |url=https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/04/europe/police-raid-gay-venues-russia-intl-hnk/index.html |access-date=2023-12-04 |website=CNN |language=en | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231204031704/https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/04/europe/police-raid-gay-venues-russia-intl-hnk/index.html | archive-date=2023-12-04 | url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":8">{{Cite web |date=2024-03-22 |title=Russia adds 'LGBT movement' to 'terrorists and extremists' blacklist |url=https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20240322-russia-adds-lgbt-movement-to-terrorists-and-extremists-blacklist |access-date=2024-03-23 |website=France 24 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":9">{{Cite web |last=Times |first=The Moscow |date=2024-03-22 |title=Russia Adds 'LGBT Movement' to 'Terrorists and Extremists' List |url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2024/03/22/russia-adds-lgbt-movement-to-terrorists-and-extremists-list-a84574 |access-date=2024-03-23 |website=The Moscow Times |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-03-23 |title=LGBT movement added to Russia's list of extremist and terrorist organisations |url=https://eutoday.net/lgbt-movement-russia/ |access-date=2024-03-23 |language=en-GB}}</ref> | |||
==Current situation== | |||
* The ] currently ] since 2003, regardless of ]. | |||
* ] and ] people can change their legal gender after corresponding medical procedures since 1997.<ref group=note name=gender_identity/> | |||
* Homosexuality was officially removed from the Russian list of ]es in 1999 (after endorsement of ]). | |||
* As far as adoptions of children: ]s living within Russia, regardless of their ], can adopt children. Russian children can be adopted by a single homosexual who lives in a foreign country provided that country does not recognize same-sex marriage.<ref name="AdobtionFromAbroad">{{cite news |title=Russia's Putin signs law limiting adoption by gays |url=http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/07/03/russia-putin-gay-adoption/2486913/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+UsatodaycomWorld-TopStories+%28News+-+World+-+Top+Stories%29 |work= USA Today |date=3 July 2013 |agency=The Associated Press}}</ref> A couple can adopt children together, as a couple, only if they are a married heterosexual couple. | |||
== History == | |||
'''Homophobia in Russia:''' Public opinion in Russia tends to be among the most hostile toward homosexuality in the world—outside predominantly Muslim countries and some parts of Asia—and the level of intolerance has been rising.<ref name=morello>{{cite news|last=Morello|first=Carol|title=Acceptance of gays in society varies widely|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/acceptance-of-gays-in-society-varies-widely/2013/06/04/9f25c6d0-cd29-11e2-8845-d970ccb04497_story.html|newspaper=Washington Post|date=4 June 2013}}</ref> A 2013 survey found that 74% of Russians said homosexuality should not be accepted by society (up from 60% in 2002), compared to 16% who said that homosexuality should be accepted by society.<ref name=pew2013>{{cite web|title=The global divide on homosexuality: greater acceptance in more secular and affluent countries|url=http://www.pewglobal.org/2013/06/04/the-global-divide-on-homosexuality/|publisher=Pew Research Global Attitudes Project|date=4 June 2013}}</ref> In a 2007 survey, 68% of Russians said homosexuality is always wrong (54%) or almost always wrong (14%).<ref>{{cite web|last=Smith|first=Tom W.|title=Cross-national differences in attitudes toward homosexuality|url=http://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/Smith-CrossNational-NORC-May-2011.pdf|publisher=Charles R. Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation (UCLA Law School)|date=April 2011}}</ref> In a 2005 poll, 44% of Russians were in favor of making homosexual acts between consenting adults a criminal act;<ref name=PollAll2005/> at the same time, 43% of Russians supported a legal ban on discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.<ref name=PollAll2005/> In 2013, 16% of Russians surveyed said that gay people should be isolated from society, 22% said they should be forced to undergo treatment, and 5% said homosexuals should be "liquidated".<ref name=liquidated>{{cite news|title=87% of Russians oppose gay parades|url=http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/87-of-russians-oppose-gay-parades/476773.html|newspaper=The Moscow Times|date = 12 March 2013}}</ref> | |||
{{Main|LGBTQ history in Russia}} | |||
Under the reign of ] in the 18th, who introduced a wide range of reforms aimed at modernizing and Westernizing Russia, there was a ban on male homosexual activity, but only in military statutes for soldiers. In 1832, the criminal code included Article 995, which stated that ''muzhelozhstvo'' ({{langx|ru|мужеложство}}, ']'), or men lying with men, was a criminal act punishable by exile to Siberia for up to 5 years. Men lying with men was interpreted by courts as meaning anal sex. Application of the laws was rare, and the turn of the century found a relaxation of these laws and a general growing of tolerance and visibility.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}} | |||
In the wake of the ], the Bolshevik regime decriminalized homosexuality. The Bolsheviks rewrote the constitution and "produced two Criminal Codes – in 1922 and 1926 – and an article prohibiting homosexual sex was left off both."<ref name="auto1">{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-41737330|title=1917 Russian Revolution: The gay community's brief window of freedom|year=2017|publisher=BBC|access-date=9 April 2019|archive-date=9 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190909074119/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-41737330|url-status=live}}</ref> The new ] government removed the old laws regarding sexual relations, effectively legalising homosexual intercourse within Russia, although it remained illegal in other territories of the Soviet Union, and the homosexuals in Russia were still persecuted and sacked from their jobs.<ref name="auto1"/> Under ], the Soviet Union recriminalized homosexuality in a decree signed in 1933.<ref name="star">{{cite web |url=https://www.gaystarnews.com/article/the-secret-gay-history-of-russia/ |title=The Secret Gay History of Russia |date=June 17, 2018 |website=Gay Star News |last=Morgan |first=Joe |access-date=March 21, 2021 |archive-date=20 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211120200954/https://www.gaystarnews.com/article/the-secret-gay-history-of-russia/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> The new Article 154-a,{{sfn|Engelstein|1995|p=169}} later relocated to Article 121 in 1961,<ref name="1961code" /> punished sexual relations between men with up to five years' imprisonment and led to several raids and arrests. Female homosexuals were sent to mental institutions. The decree was part of a broader campaign against "deviant" behavior and "Western degeneracy".<ref name="auto1"/> Following Stalin's death, there was ] of attitudes toward sexual issues in the Soviet Union, but homosexual acts remained illegal. Discrimination against LGBT individuals persisted in the Soviet era, and homosexuality was not officially declassified as a mental illness until 1999.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2017-11-10 |title=1917 Russian Revolution: The gay community's brief window of freedom |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-41737330 |access-date=2023-01-03 |archive-date=3 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230103171314/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-41737330 |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
'''Same-Sex Marriage:''' Neither ] nor civil unions of same-sex couples are allowed in Russia. In July 2013, ], the leader of the ], of which approximately 80% of Russians are members, said that the idea of same-sex marriage was "a very dangerous sign of the Apocalypse".<ref name=nytreactions/> At a 2011 press conference, the head of the Moscow Registry Office, ], declared: "Attempts by same-sex couples to marry both in Moscow and elsewhere in Russia are doomed to fail. We live in a civil society, we are guided by the federal law, by the Constitution that clearly says: marriage in Russia is between a man and a woman. Such a marriage cannot be contracted in Russia."<ref>{{cite news |title=Same-sex marriages not allowed in Russia - Moscow registrar|publisher=Interfax-Religion |url=http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=8083 |accessdate=13 January 2011 | date=13 January 2011}}</ref> The vast majority of the Russian public are also against same-sex marriage.<ref name=PollAll2005>{{cite web|title=Public opinion poll: Majority of Russians oppose gay marriages and a gay President but support ban on sexual orientation discrimination|publisher=]|date=19 May 2005|url=http://www.gayrussia.ru/en/news/detail.php?ID=1459|accessdate=26 May 2009}}</ref><ref name=PollSSM2005>{{cite web|title=Same-Sex Marriage Nixed By Russians|publisher=|date=17 February 2005|url=http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/view/5986|accessdate=21 May 2009}}</ref> | |||
Soviet Article 121 was often commonly used to extend prison sentences and to control dissidents. Among those imprisoned were the well-known film director ] and the poet Gennady Trifonov. Under ]'s administration in the late 1980s, the first gay organisation came into being. The Moscow Gay & Lesbian Alliance was headed by Yevgeniya Debryanskaya and Roman Kalinin, who became the editor of the first officially registered gay newspaper, ''Tema''. The fall of the USSR accelerated the progress of the gay movement in Russia. Gay publications and plays appeared. In 1993, a new Russian Criminal Code was signed, without Article 121. Men who had been imprisoned began to be released.{{Citation needed|date=December 2023}} | |||
'''Military Service:''' According to reporting in ''Pravda'', in the past some young Russians would claim they were gay as a pretense to be avoid military service duty.<ref name=kulikov>{{cite news|title=Gays are not willingly accepted in the Russian army|url=http://english.pravda.ru/business/finance/01-12-2003/4207-gayarmy-0/|newspaper=Pravda.ru|date=1 December 2003}}</ref> The Major-General of the Medical Service attempted to change that in 2003 when he announced that under a new statute, homosexuality would not be a justification for exclusion from military service: "The issue of a person's homosexuality is not medical. There is no such diagnosis as homosexuality in medicine. There is no such illness in the classification of World Health Organization. The new statute about military and medical expertise follows international law practice. Therefore the reasons for evaluating the ability to serve for homosexuals are the same: physicial and psychic health".<ref name=kulikov/> However, he added that people of non-standard sexual orientation should not reveal their sexual orientation while serving in the army because "other soldiers are not going to like that, they can be beaten".<ref name=kulikov/> President Vladimir Putin said in a U.S. television interview in 2010 that openly gay men were not excluded from military service in Russia.<ref name=bbcarmy>{{cite news|title=Russian army put on alert for tell-tale tattoos|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21194719|newspaper=BBC News|date=25 January 2013}}</ref> In 2013, it was reported that the Defense Ministry had issued a guideline on assessment of new recruits' mental health that recommends recruits be asked about their sexual history and be examined for certain types of tattoos, especially genital or buttocks tattoos, that would allegedly indicate a homosexual orientation.<ref name=bbcarmy/><ref>{{cite news|last=Spinella|first=Peter|title=New soldiers face gay tattoo check|url=http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/new-soldiers-face-gay-tattoo-check/474484.html?photo=1|newspaper=Moscow Times|date=25 January 2013}}</ref> | |||
== Current situation == | |||
'''Visibility of LGBT Organizations & Services:''' There is a visible ] network, mostly in major cities like Moscow and ], including nightclubs and political organizations.{{citation needed|date=September 2013}} | |||
* The ] currently ] since 2003, regardless of ].<ref name=":6">{{Cite web |author-link=Human Rights Watch |date=2018 |title=No Support: Russia's "Gay Propaganda" Law Imperils LGBT Youth |url=https://www.hrw.org/report/2018/12/12/no-support/russias-gay-propaganda-law-imperils-lgbt-youth |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240106171818/https://www.hrw.org/report/2018/12/12/no-support/russias-gay-propaganda-law-imperils-lgbt-youth |archive-date=January 6, 2024 |access-date=January 6, 2024 |website=Human Rights Watch}}</ref> | |||
* Homosexuality was officially removed from the Russian list of ]es in 1999 (after the endorsement of the ]'s ] classifications). However, there is a movement within Russia to bring it back.<ref name=":6" /> The Russian government introduced new laws on 1 July 2023 to effectively reinstate the classification of homosexuality as a mental illness.<ref name="reuters" /> | |||
* ]s living within Russia, regardless of their ], can adopt children. Russian children can be adopted by a single person who lives in a foreign country provided that country does not recognize same-sex marriage.<ref name="AdobtionFromAbroad">{{cite news |title=Russia's Putin signs law limiting adoption by gays |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/07/03/russia-putin-gay-adoption/2486913/ |work=USA Today |date=3 July 2013 |agency=The Associated Press |access-date=2 September 2017 |archive-date=15 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190215052311/https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/07/03/russia-putin-gay-adoption/2486913/ |url-status=live }}</ref> A couple can adopt children together, as a couple, only if they are a married heterosexual couple.<ref>{{Cite web |first1=Phil |last1=Black |first2=Alla |last2=Eshchenko |date=2014-02-13 |title=Russia enacts anti-gay adoption ban |url=https://www.cnn.com/2014/02/13/world/europe/russia-same-sex-marriage-adoption-ban/index.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240106172215/https://www.cnn.com/2014/02/13/world/europe/russia-same-sex-marriage-adoption-ban/index.html |archive-date=2024-01-06 |access-date=2024-01-06 |website=CNN |language=en}}</ref> | |||
* The Russian constitution guarantees the right of peaceful association.<ref>{{cite report |author=Kseniya A.Kirichenko |title=Legal Report: Russian Federation |url=http://www.coe.int/t/Commissioner/Source/LGBT/RussiaLegal_E.pdf |publisher=Danish Institute for Human Rights |series=Study on Homophobia, Transphobia and Discrimination on Grounds of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity |year=2010 |page=4 |access-date=4 November 2023 |archive-date=6 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230406024835/https://www.coe.int/t/Commissioner/Source/LGBT/RussiaLegal_E.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Nevertheless, organs of authority in Russia refuse to register LGBTQ organisations,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-07-17 |title=European Court finds Russia's refusal to register three LGBT organizations unjustified and discriminatory |url=https://www.icj.org/european-court-finds-russias-refusal-to-register-three-lgbt-organizations-unjustified-and-discriminatory/ |access-date=2023-10-04 |website=International Commission of Jurists |language=en-US |archive-date=11 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231011010026/https://www.icj.org/european-court-finds-russias-refusal-to-register-three-lgbt-organizations-unjustified-and-discriminatory/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and pro-LGBTQ advocacy groups have been declared extremist organisations and therefore prohibited from operating within Russian territory.<ref name="skynews" /><!-- The following do not link to anything:{{sfn|Московская Хельсинкская группа, Российская ЛГБТ-сеть|2009|p=77}}{{sfn|Российская ЛГБТ-сеть|2012|p=4}}{{sfn|Global Rights, ILGA-Europe, Российская ЛГБТ-сеть, Группа «FtM-Феникс», Российский Фонд «Трансгендер»|2009|p=2}}{{sfn|Global Rights, ILGA-Europe, Российская ЛГБТ-сеть, Группа «FtM-Феникс», Российский Фонд «Трансгендер»|2009|p=18}}{{sfn|Кочетков|2011|p=191}}{{sfn|Совет Европы|2011|p=98}} --> | |||
===Public opinion=== | |||
==Employment discrimination== | |||
Public opinion in Russia tends to be hostile toward homosexuality and the level of intolerance has been rising.<ref name=morello>{{cite news|last=Morello|first=Carol|title=Acceptance of gays in society varies widely|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/acceptance-of-gays-in-society-varies-widely/2013/06/04/9f25c6d0-cd29-11e2-8845-d970ccb04497_story.html|newspaper=Washington Post|date=4 June 2013|access-date=2 September 2017|archive-date=28 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180728002914/https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/acceptance-of-gays-in-society-varies-widely/2013/06/04/9f25c6d0-cd29-11e2-8845-d970ccb04497_story.html|url-status=live}}</ref> A 2022 survey found that 74% of Russians said homosexuality should not be accepted by society (up from 60% in 2002), compared to 14% who said that homosexuality should be accepted by society.<ref name=pew2013>{{cite web|title=The global divide on homosexuality: greater acceptance in more secular and affluent countries|url=http://www.pewglobal.org/2013/06/04/the-global-divide-on-homosexuality/|publisher=Pew Research Global Attitudes Project|date=4 June 2013|access-date=12 June 2013|archive-date=3 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131103034522/http://www.pewglobal.org/2013/06/04/the-global-divide-on-homosexuality/|url-status=live}}</ref> In a 2015 survey of 2,471 Russians, 86% said homosexuality should not be accepted by society.<ref>{{cite news |title=Religious Belief and National Belonging in Central and Eastern Europe |url=https://www.pewforum.org/2017/05/10/social-views-and-morality/ |work=Pew Research Center |date=10 May 2017 |access-date=2 November 2019 |archive-date=13 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190913212457/https://www.pewforum.org/2017/05/10/social-views-and-morality/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In a 2007 survey, 68% of Russians said homosexuality is always wrong (54%) or almost always wrong (14%).<ref>{{cite web|last=Smith|first=Tom W.|title=Cross-national differences in attitudes toward homosexuality|url=http://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/Smith-CrossNational-NORC-May-2011.pdf|publisher=Charles R. Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation (UCLA Law School)|date=April 2011|access-date=12 June 2013|archive-date=5 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305002828/http://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/Smith-CrossNational-NORC-May-2011.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> In a 2005 poll, 44% of Russians were in favour of making homosexual acts between consenting adults a criminal act;<ref name=PollAll2005 /> at the same time, 43% of Russians supported a legal ban on discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.<ref name=PollAll2005 /> In 2013, 16% of Russians surveyed said that gay people should be isolated from society, 22% said they should be forced to undergo treatment, and 5% said homosexuals should be "liquidated".<ref name=liquidated>{{cite news|title=87% of Russians oppose gay parades|url=http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/87-of-russians-oppose-gay-parades/476773.html|newspaper=The Moscow Times|date=12 March 2013|access-date=9 September 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131030010646/http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/87-of-russians-oppose-gay-parades/476773.html|archive-date=30 October 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> In Russian psychiatry, Soviet mentality about homosexuality has endured into the present day.<ref name="Savenko, Perekhov">{{cite journal |author1=Savenko, Yuri |author2=Perekhov, Alexei |title=The State of Psychiatry in Russia |journal=] |series=Vol 31 No 2 |date=13 February 2014 |volume=31 |issue=2 |url=http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/special-reports/state-psychiatry-russia |access-date=17 February 2014 |archive-date=27 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190927203913/https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/special-reports/state-psychiatry-russia |url-status=live }}</ref> For instance, in spite of the removal of homosexuality from the nomenclature of mental disorders, 62.5% of 450 surveyed psychiatrists in the ] view it as an illness, and up to three-quarters view it as immoral behavior.<ref name="Savenko, Perekhov" /> The psychiatrists sustain the objections to pride parades and the use of veiled schemes to lay off openly lesbian and gay persons from schools, child care centres, and other public institutions.<ref name="Savenko, Perekhov" /> A Russian motorcycle club called the ], which is closely associated with Russian President ] and which suggests "Death to faggots" as an alternate name for itself,<ref name=GN150115>{{cite web |url= https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/15/group-anti-maidan-defend-russia-pro-democracy-protesters |title= Patriotic group formed to defend Russia against pro-democracy protesters |first= Shaun |last= Walker |work= ] |date= 15 January 2015 |access-date= 16 May 2017 |archive-date= 3 August 2020 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200803091158/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/15/group-anti-maidan-defend-russia-pro-democracy-protesters |url-status= live }}</ref> organised a large ] rally in February 2015 at which a popular slogan was "We don't need Western ideology and gay parades!"<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/11426775/Thousands-take-part-in-Anti-Maidan-protest-in-Moscow-against-uprising-in-Ukraine.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/11426775/Thousands-take-part-in-Anti-Maidan-protest-in-Moscow-against-uprising-in-Ukraine.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Thousands take part in 'Anti-Maidan' protest in Moscow against uprising in Ukraine|date=21 February 2015|work=Telegraph.co.uk|access-date=22 August 2015}}{{cbignore}}</ref> | |||
In September 2013, ] teacher and gay rights activist Alexandr Yermoshkin was fired from his two jobs as school teacher and university researcher.<ref>http://slon.ru/fast/russia/khabarkovskiy-uchitel-lishilsya-raboty-iz-za-seksualnoy-orientatsii-986341.xhtml</ref> A week earlier, he was attacked by members of local ] group "Shtolz Khabarovsk".<ref>http://amurburg.ru/news/v_kurse_dela/khabarovskie_natsisty_napali_na_lgbt_aktivista_aleksandra_ermoshkina/</ref> His dismissal was campaigned by local homophobic activist group called "Movement against the propaganda of sexual perversions".<ref>http://amurburg.ru/news/v_kurse_dela/khabarovskie_gomofoby_obedinilis_dlya_travli_izvestnogo_v_gorode_prepodavatelya/</ref> | |||
===Same-sex unions=== | |||
{{main|Recognition of same-sex unions in Russia}} | |||
Neither ] nor ] of same-sex couples are allowed in Russia. In July 2013, ], the leader of the ], of which approximately 71% of Russians are adherents,<ref>Religion in Russia according to the ''Religious Belief and National Belonging in Central and Eastern Europe'' survey by the ], 2017</ref> said that the idea of same-sex marriage was "a very dangerous sign of the Apocalypse".<ref name="nytreactions" /> At a 2011 press conference, the head of the Moscow Registry Office, ], declared: "Attempts by same-sex couples to marry both in Moscow and elsewhere in Russia are doomed to fail. We live in a civil society, we are guided by the federal law, by the Constitution that clearly says: marriage in Russia is between a man and a woman. Such a marriage cannot be contracted in Russia."<ref>{{cite news |title=Same-sex marriages not allowed in Russia – Moscow registrar |publisher=Interfax-Religion |url=http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=8083 |access-date=13 January 2011 |date=13 January 2011 |archive-date=26 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190226225200/http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=8083 |url-status=live }}</ref> The vast majority of the Russian public are also against same-sex marriage.<ref name="PollAll2005">{{cite web|title=Public opinion poll: Majority of Russians oppose gay marriages and a gay President but support ban on sexual orientation discrimination|publisher=]|date=19 May 2005|url=http://archive.gayrussia.eu/en/news/detail.php?ID=1459|access-date=26 May 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20151205083554/http://archive.gayrussia.eu/en/news/detail.php?ID=1459|archive-date=5 December 2015}}</ref><ref name="PollSSM2005">{{cite web|title=Same-Sex Marriage Nixed By Russians |newspaper=Angus Reid Global Monitor |date=17 February 2005 |url=http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/view/5986 |access-date=21 May 2009 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090525015405/http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/view/5986 |archive-date=25 May 2009 }}</ref> In July 2020, Russian voters approved a Constitution amendment banning same-sex marriage.<ref>{{Cite news|last=|first=|date=2020-07-15|title=Russian parliament begins legalising ban on same-sex marriage|language=en|work=Reuters|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-politics-gaymarriage-idUSKCN24G1CJ|access-date=2021-07-16|archive-date=16 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210716094758/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-politics-gaymarriage-idUSKCN24G1CJ|url-status=live}}</ref> In the 2021 case '']'', the ] ruled that it was a violation of human rights for Russia not to offer any form of legal recognition to same-sex relationships.<ref name="Fedele">{{cite web |last1=Fedele |first1=Giulio |title=The (Gay) Elephant in the Room: Is there a Positive Obligation to Legally Recognise Same-Sex Unions after Fedotova v. Russia? |url=https://www.ejiltalk.org/the-gay-elephant-in-the-room-is-there-a-positive-obligation-to-legally-recognise-same-sex-unions-after-fedotova-v-russia/ |website=EJIL: Talk! |access-date=13 August 2021 |language=English |date=23 July 2021 |archive-date=13 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210813003640/https://www.ejiltalk.org/the-gay-elephant-in-the-room-is-there-a-positive-obligation-to-legally-recognise-same-sex-unions-after-fedotova-v-russia/ |url-status=live }}</ref> However, Russia left the court in 2022.<ref>{{Cite web |author-link=Council of Europe |date=2022 |title=Russia ceases to be party to the European Convention on Human Rights - Portal - www.coe.int |url=https://www.coe.int/en/web/portal/-/russia-ceases-to-be-party-to-the-european-convention-on-human-rights |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240106172143/https://www.coe.int/en/web/portal/-/russia-ceases-to-be-party-to-the-european-convention-on-human-rights |archive-date=2024-01-06 |access-date=2024-01-06 |website=COUNCIL OF EUROPE |language=en-GB}}</ref> | |||
===Military service=== | |||
Before 1993, homosexual acts between consenting males were against the law in Russia,<ref name=RUS33940/> and homosexuality was considered a mental disorder until adoption of ] in 1999,<ref name=ILGA_RFDHO>{{cite web|last=Warner|first=Nigel|title=The Russian Federation has dropped "homosexual orientation" from its new classification of mental and behaviour disorders|work=ILGA Euroletter 75]|publisher=France QRD]|date=November 1999|url=http://france.qrd.org/assocs/ilga/euroletter/75.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080725054034/http://www.france.qrd.org/assocs/ilga/euroletter/75.html|archive-date=2008-07-25}}</ref> but even after that military medical expertise statute was in force to continue considering homosexuality a mental disorder which was a reason to deny homosexuals to serve in the military. On 1 July 2003, a new military medical expertise statute was adopted; it said people "who have problems with their identity and sexual preferences" can only be drafted during war times.<ref>{{cite news|title=Russian army to ban gays|work=BBC News|publisher=BBC|date=13 March 2003|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2848467.stm|access-date=6 September 2020|archive-date=25 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210425171422/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2848467.stm|url-status=live}}</ref> However, this clause contradicted another clause of the same statute which stated that different sexual orientation should not be considered a deviation. This ambiguity was resolved by the Major-General of the Medical Service Valery Kulikov who clearly stated that the new medical statute "does not forbid people of non-standard sexual orientation from serving in the military."<ref name=PravdaOL>{{cite news|title=Gays are not Willingly Accepted in the Russian Army|work=Pravda Online|date=1 December 2003|url=http://english.pravda.ru/main/18/90/362/11406_GayArmy.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090526044559/http://english.pravda.ru/main/18/90/362/11406_GayArmy.html|archive-date=2009-05-26}}</ref> However, he added that people of non-standard sexual orientation should not reveal their sexual orientation while serving in the army because "other soldiers are not going to like that; they can be beaten".<ref name=kulikov>{{cite news|title=Gays are not willingly accepted in the Russian army|url=http://english.pravda.ru/business/finance/01-12-2003/4207-gayarmy-0/|newspaper=Pravda.ru|date=1 December 2003|access-date=10 September 2013|archive-date=25 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150425175317/http://english.pravda.ru/business/finance/01-12-2003/4207-gayarmy-0/|url-status=live}}</ref> President Vladimir Putin said in a U.S. television interview in 2010 that openly ] were not excluded from military service in Russia.<ref name=bbcarmy>{{cite news|title=Russian army put on alert for tell-tale tattoos|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21194719|newspaper=BBC News|date=25 January 2013|access-date=20 June 2018|archive-date=1 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201232656/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21194719|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2013, it was reported that the Defense Ministry had issued a guideline on assessment of new recruits' mental health that recommends recruits be asked about their sexual history and be examined for certain types of tattoos, especially genital or buttocks tattoos, that would allegedly indicate a homosexual orientation.<ref name=bbcarmy /><ref>{{cite news|last=Spinella|first=Peter|title=New soldiers face gay tattoo check|url=http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/new-soldiers-face-gay-tattoo-check/474484.html?photo=1|newspaper=Moscow Times|date=25 January 2013|access-date=10 September 2013|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304215123/http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/new-soldiers-face-gay-tattoo-check/474484.html?photo=1|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
As of April and May 2023 there has been a proposed crackdown on the changing of genders. The Russian ] is considering passing new laws to prevent men from changing their gender from male to female without surgery. The proposed changes, as first discussed by the Russian Minister of Justice, ], in April are to "rule out the possibility of changing a person’s gender purely by changing the documents.” Duma Committee on Family, Women, and Children's Affairs head ] said: "Amendments will soon be introduced in the State Duma to officially ban gender reassignment without surgery," In part it is to protect "family values" in Russia. However Russian men have considered changing their genders to avoid being called by the military authorities. According to one Russian source "In connection with the special operation, many young people have turned to private clinics to provide a sex change to avoid conscription..."], Speaker of the Duma, claims that some "2,700" such decisions have been made in "recent times".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.firstpost.com/world/duma-to-ban-gender-reassignment-without-surgery-as-russian-men-go-for-sex-change-to-avoid-fighting-ukraine-12551312.html|title=Duma to ban gender reassignment without surgery as Russian men go for sex change to avoid fighting Ukraine|publisher=FirstPost|author=Ayndrila Banerjee|date=5 May 2023|access-date=6 May 2023|archive-date=6 May 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230506053212/https://www.firstpost.com/world/duma-to-ban-gender-reassignment-without-surgery-as-russian-men-go-for-sex-change-to-avoid-fighting-ukraine-12551312.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.kyivpost.com/post/16620|title=Russian Duma Plans Ban on Sex Change Without Surgery to Stop Evasion of Military Service|publisher=Kyiv Post|date=5 May 2023|access-date=6 May 2023|archive-date=6 May 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230506053212/https://www.kyivpost.com/post/16620|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
===Gay pride events=== | |||
], Russia, 1 May 2017]] | |||
There have been notable objections to the organisation of ]s<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.dailyxtra.com/gay-man-arrested-at-otherwise-peaceful-st-petersburg-pride-62605|title=Gay man arrested at otherwise peaceful St Petersburg Pride|date=2014-07-29|work=Xtra|access-date=2018-05-30|language=en-US|archive-date=3 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803061312/https://www.dailyxtra.com/gay-man-arrested-at-otherwise-peaceful-st-petersburg-pride-62605|url-status=live}}</ref> in several Russian cities, most prominently ], where authorities have never approved a request to hold a gay pride rally.<ref>{{cite news|title=Moscow says No to May 25 gay pride parade|url=http://en.ria.ru/russia/20130515/181167995.html|newspaper=RIA Novosti|date=15 May 2013|access-date=14 March 2014|archive-date=25 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140725085857/http://en.ria.ru/russia/20130515/181167995.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Former Moscow mayor ] supported the city's refusal to authorize the first two editions of ]'s ] events, calling them as "satanic". The events still went on as planned, in defiance of their lack of authorisation.<ref name=bbc-satanicparade>{{cite news|title=Moscow bans 'satanic' gay parade|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6310883.stm|work=BBC News|access-date=15 February 2014|archive-date=16 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180616002844/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6310883.stm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/gay-pride-parade-satanic-mayor/2007/01/30/1169919305743.html |title=Gay Pride parade 'satanic': mayor |publisher=Sydney Morning Herald |date=30 January 2007 |access-date=15 February 2014 |archive-date=16 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180616030331/https://www.smh.com.au/news/world/gay-pride-parade-satanic-mayor/2007/01/30/1169919305743.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2010, Russia was fined by the ], ruling that, as alleged by Alexeyev, Russian cities were discriminating against the gay community by refusing to authorize pride parades. Although authorities had claimed allowing pride events to be held would pose a risk of violence, the Court ruled that their decisions "effectively approved of and supported groups who had called for disruption."<ref name=bbcnews-fined>{{cite news|title=European court fines Russia for banning gay parades|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11598590|work=BBC News|date=6 March 2012|access-date=16 February 2014|archive-date=2 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191002201959/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11598590|url-status=live}}</ref> In August 2012, contravening the previous ruling, the Moscow City Court upheld a ruling blocking requests by the organisers of Moscow Pride for authorisation to hold the parade yearly through 2112, citing the possibility of public disorder and a lack of support for such events by residents of Moscow.<ref name=bbc-paradefine>{{cite news|title=European court fines Russia for banning gay parades|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-19293465|work=BBC News|date=17 August 2012|access-date=13 February 2014|archive-date=30 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200530145017/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-19293465|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="bbc">{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-19293465 |title=Gay parades banned in Moscow for 100 years |publisher=BBC |date=17 August 2012 |access-date=7 November 2013 |archive-date=30 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200530145017/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-19293465 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Not The Onion: Moscow Bans Gay Pride for Next 100 years |first=Steve |last=Clemons |author-link=Steven Clemons |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/06/not-the-onion-moscow-bans-gay-pride-for-next-100-years/258296/ |newspaper=] |date=8 June 2012 |access-date=8 June 2012 |archive-date=20 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181020154802/https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/06/not-the-onion-moscow-bans-gay-pride-for-next-100-years/258296/ |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
===Chechnya=== | |||
{{Main|LGBT rights in Chechnya|Anti-gay purges in Chechnya}} | |||
] (''right'') with Chechnya's parliamentary chairman ]]] | |||
Anti-gay purges in the ] have included ]s — secret abductions, imprisonment, and ] — by authorities targeting persons based on their perceived ]. An unknown number of men, who authorities detained on suspicion of being gay or bisexual, have reportedly died after being held in what ] groups and eyewitnesses have called ]s.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Smith |first1=Lydia |title=Chechnya detains 100 gay men in first concentration camps since the Holocaust |url=http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/chechnya-detains-100-gay-men-first-concentration-camps-since-holocaust-1616363 |access-date=16 April 2017 |work=International Business Times UK |date=10 April 2017 |archive-date=7 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191107082617/https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/chechnya-detains-100-gay-men-first-concentration-camps-since-holocaust-1616363 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Advocate">{{cite news |last1=Reynolds |first1=Daniel |title=Report: Chechnya Is Torturing Gay Men in Concentration Camps |url=http://www.advocate.com/world/2017/4/10/report-chechyna-torturing-gay-men-concentration-camps |access-date=16 April 2017 |work=The Advocate |date=10 April 2017 |archive-date=16 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190616042354/https://www.advocate.com/world/2017/4/10/report-chechyna-torturing-gay-men-concentration-camps |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
Allegations were initially reported on 1 April 2017 in '']'',<ref name=NovayaGazeta>{{cite news |last = Milashina |first = Elena |title = Murder of honor: the ambitions of a well-known LGBT activist awake a terrible ancient custom in Chechnya |date = 1 April 2017 |url = https://www.novayagazeta.ru/articles/2017/04/01/71983-ubiystvo-chesti |access-date = 14 April 2017 |quote = "Novaya Gazeta" became aware of mass detentions of residents of Chechnya in connection with their unconventional sexual orientation – or suspicion of such. At the moment, more than a hundred men have been informed of the detention. "Novaya Gazeta" knows the names of the three dead, but our sources say that there are many more victims. |archive-date = 9 May 2019 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190509141953/https://www.novayagazeta.ru/articles/2017/04/01/71983-ubiystvo-chesti |url-status = live }}</ref> a Russian-language ] newspaper, which reported that since February 2017 over 100 men had allegedly been detained and tortured and at least three had died in an ]. The paper, citing its sources in the Chechen special services, called the wave of detentions a "] sweep".<ref name = NovayaGazeta/><ref name="KramerNYT" /> The journalist who first reported on the subject went into hiding.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/04/15/she-broke-the-story-of-chechnyas-anti-gay-purge-now-she-says-she-has-to-flee-russia/|title=Analysis – She broke the story of Chechnya's anti-gay purge. Now, she says she has to flee Russia.|newspaper=]|access-date=16 April 2017|archive-date=4 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190404014021/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/04/15/she-broke-the-story-of-chechnyas-anti-gay-purge-now-she-says-she-has-to-flee-russia/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="auto">{{Cite news|url=http://www.elleuk.com/life-and-culture/culture/news/a35180/there-are-terrifying-gay-concentration-camps-in-chechnya/|title=Reports Of New, Terrifying 'Gay Concentration Camps' Where Men Are Getting Tortured And Murdered|date=2017-04-13|work=ELLE UK|access-date=2017-04-13|archive-date=20 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170720211400/http://www.elleuk.com/life-and-culture/culture/news/a35180/there-are-terrifying-gay-concentration-camps-in-chechnya/|url-status=live}}</ref> There have been calls for reprisals against journalists who report on the situation.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/apr/14/journalists-fear-reprisals-for-exposing-purge-of-gay-men-in-chechnya|title=Journalists fear reprisals for exposing purge of gay men in Chechnya|first=Shaun|last=Walker|date=14 April 2017|access-date=15 April 2017|newspaper=The Guardian|archive-date=13 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190413182052/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/apr/14/journalists-fear-reprisals-for-exposing-purge-of-gay-men-in-chechnya|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
As news spread of Chechen authorities' actions, which have been described as part of a systematic anti-] ], Russian and international activists scrambled to evacuate survivors of the camps and other vulnerable Chechens but were met with difficulty obtaining visas to conduct them safely beyond Russia.<ref name="bbc_ponniah">{{cite web |title=Chechen gay men hopeful of finding refuge in five countries |author=Ponniah, Kevin |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-39974512 |work=BBC News |date=19 May 2017 |access-date=22 May 2017 |archive-date=30 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190430071230/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-39974512 |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
The reports of the persecution were met with a variety of reactions worldwide. The ] ] denied not only the occurrence of any persecution but also the existence of gay men in Chechnya, adding that such people would be killed by their own families.<ref name="Walker2April">{{cite news|last1=Walker|first1=Shaun|title=Chechen police 'have rounded up more than 100 suspected gay men'|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/apr/02/chechen-police-rounded-up-100-gay-men-report-russian-newspaper-chechnya|access-date=16 April 2017|work=The Guardian|date=2 April 2017|archive-date=27 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190427205130/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/apr/02/chechen-police-rounded-up-100-gay-men-report-russian-newspaper-chechnya|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Chechen police 'kidnap and torture gay men' – LGBT activists |work=BBC News |author=Peter, Laurence |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-39566136 |date=11 April 2017 |access-date=31 May 2017 |archive-date=24 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190524215937/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-39566136 |url-status=live }}</ref> Officials in Moscow were sceptical, although in late May the Russian government reportedly agreed to send an investigative team to Chechnya.<ref name="guardian_walker26may">{{cite news |title=Russia investigates 'gay purge' in Chechnya |author=Walker, Shaun |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/may/26/russia-investigates-gay-purge-in-chechnya |newspaper=The Guardian |date=26 May 2017 |access-date=27 May 2017 |archive-date=29 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190429004528/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/may/26/russia-investigates-gay-purge-in-chechnya |url-status=live }}</ref> Numerous national leaders and other public figures in ] condemned Chechnya's actions, and protests were held in Russia and elsewhere. A report released in December 2018 by the ] (OSCE) confirmed claims that persecution of LGBTQ persons had taken place and was ignored by authorities.<ref>{{cite web | |||
|last = Benedek | |||
|first = Dr. Wolfgang | |||
|title = OSCE Rapporteur's Report under the Moscow Mechanism on alleged Human Rights Violations and Impunity in the Chechen Republic of the Russian Federation by Professor Dr. Wolfgang Benedek | |||
|publisher = Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe | |||
|date = December 21, 2018 | |||
|url = https://www.osce.org/odihr/407402?download=true | |||
|access-date = 13 January 2018 | |||
|archive-date = 15 March 2019 | |||
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190315230116/https://www.osce.org/odihr/407402?download=true | |||
|url-status = live | |||
}}</ref><ref name="Gessen">{{cite magazine | |||
|last = Gessen | |||
|first = Masha | |||
|title = A Damning New Report on L.G.B.T. Persecution in Chechnya | |||
|magazine = The New Yorker | |||
|date = December 21, 2018 | |||
|url = https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/a-damning-new-report-on-lgbt-persecution-in-chechnya | |||
|access-date = 13 January 2018 | |||
|archive-date = 24 May 2019 | |||
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190524005440/https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/a-damning-new-report-on-lgbt-persecution-in-chechnya | |||
|url-status = live | |||
}}</ref> | |||
On 11 January 2019, it was reported that another 'gay purge' had begun in the country in December 2018, with several gay men and women being detained.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://apnews.com/88929f353d494b3a87843002d02ad155|title=Reports: several gay men and women detained in Chechnya|first=Nataliya|last=Vasilyeva|date=11 January 2019|website=AP NEWS|access-date=14 January 2019|archive-date=3 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190403031117/https://apnews.com/88929f353d494b3a87843002d02ad155|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last = Damshenas |first = Lily |title = Chechnya has reportedly launched a new 'gay purge' |publisher = The Gay Times |date = January 11, 2019 |url = https://www.gaytimes.co.uk/community/117320/chechnya-has-reportedly-launched-a-new-gay-purge/ |access-date = 13 January 2019 |archive-date = 9 September 2019 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190909041944/https://www.gaytimes.co.uk/community/117320/chechnya-has-reportedly-launched-a-new-gay-purge/ |url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/chechnya-gay-purge-lgbt-detention-torture-missing-men-women-beating-a8723011.html|title=Chechnya launches new gay 'purge', reports say|date=11 January 2019|website=The Independent|access-date=14 January 2019|archive-date=24 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190424101606/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/chechnya-gay-purge-lgbt-detention-torture-missing-men-women-beating-a8723011.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.novayagazeta.ru/news/2019/01/11/148260-chechnya|title="Новой газете" стало известно о новых преследованиях геев в Чечне|website=Новая газета – Novayagazeta.ru|access-date=14 January 2019|archive-date=11 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191011223326/https://www.novayagazeta.ru/news/2019/01/11/148260-chechnya|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/14/world/europe/chechnya-gay-people-russia.html|title=Chechnya Renews Crackdown on Gay People, Rights Group Says|last=Kramer|first=Andrew E.|date=2019-01-14|work=The New York Times|access-date=2019-07-10|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=2 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190502080454/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/14/world/europe/chechnya-gay-people-russia.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The ] believes that around 40 persons were detained and two killed.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://lgbtnet.org/en/newseng/new-wave-persecution-against-lgbt-people-chechnya-around-40-people-detained-least-two-killed|title=New wave of persecution against LGBT people in Chechnya: around 40 people detained, at least two killed|date=2019-01-14|website=Российская ЛГБТ-сеть|language=ru|access-date=2019-07-10|archive-date=30 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190630191112/https://lgbtnet.org/en/newseng/new-wave-persecution-against-lgbt-people-chechnya-around-40-people-detained-least-two-killed|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2019/01/14/685192372/activists-say-40-detained-and-2-dead-in-gay-purge-in-chechnya|title=Activists Say 40 Detained And 2 Dead In Gay Purge In Chechnya|website=NPR.org|date=14 January 2019|language=en|access-date=2019-07-10|last1=Ingber|first1=Sasha|archive-date=19 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190519162748/https://www.npr.org/2019/01/14/685192372/activists-say-40-detained-and-2-dead-in-gay-purge-in-chechnya|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
In March 2021, ] reported that the ] imposed ] on two Chechen officials accused of persecuting LGBTQ people in Chechnya.<ref>{{Cite news|date=2021-03-22|title=EU sanctions Russians over rights abuses in Chechnya|language=en|publisher=Reuters|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-eu-russia-rights-idUSKBN2BE20O|access-date=2021-03-23|archive-date=24 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220424061528/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-eu-russia-rights-idUSKBN2BE20O|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
== Public opinion == | |||
{{Pie chart | |||
| thumb = right | |||
| caption = Support for same-sex marriage in the Russian Federation (2019 poll)<ref name="June 2019 poll">{{cite web |url=https://fom.ru/Obraz-zhizni/14220 |title=Отношение к сексменьшинствам |publisher=ФОМ |date=June 2019 |access-date=16 June 2019 |archive-date=17 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190617143120/https://fom.ru/Obraz-zhizni/14220/ |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
| label1 = Oppose | |||
| value1 = 87 | |||
| color1 = #FF0000 | |||
| label2 = Support | |||
| value2 = 7 | |||
| color2 = #008000 | |||
| label3 = Other | |||
| value3 = 6 | |||
| color3 = #808080 | |||
}} | |||
Russia has traditionally been ] on LGBT rights, with 2013 polls indicating a large majority of Russians oppose legal recognition of ], and support for laws restricting the distribution of "propaganda" that promotes non-traditional sexual relationships.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/Smith-CrossNational-NORC-May-2011.pdf |title=Cross-national Differences in Attitudes towards Homosexuality |author=Tom W. Smith |publisher=] |date=April 2011 |access-date=12 June 2013 |archive-date=5 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305002828/http://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/Smith-CrossNational-NORC-May-2011.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/12/world/europe/gays-in-russia-find-no-haven-despite-support-from-the-west.html?pagewanted=all |title=Gays in Russia Find No Haven, Despite Support From the West |author=David M. Herszenhorn |date=August 11, 2013 |newspaper=] |access-date=27 February 2017 |archive-date=10 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200410004758/https://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/12/world/europe/gays-in-russia-find-no-haven-despite-support-from-the-west.html?pagewanted=all |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
In 2019, a survey showed that 47% of Russian respondents agreed that "gays and lesbians should enjoy the same rights as other citizens," while 43 percent disagreed, a rise from 39% in 2013. This marks the highest level of support in 14 years.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.levada.ru/2019/05/23/otnoshenie-k-lgbt-lyudyam/|title=Отношение к ЛГБТ-людям|date=23 May 2019 |language=ru-RU|access-date=2019-07-10|archive-date=23 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190523112744/https://www.levada.ru/2019/05/23/otnoshenie-k-lgbt-lyudyam/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2019/05/23/russian-support-for-lgbt-rights-hits-14-year-high-poll-says-a65703|title=Russian Support for LGBT Rights Hits 14-Year High, Poll Says|date=2019-05-23|website=The Moscow Times|language=en|access-date=2019-07-10|archive-date=24 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190524173240/https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2019/05/23/russian-support-for-lgbt-rights-hits-14-year-high-poll-says-a65703|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
In 2019, a poll showed that only 2% would show interest and a willingness to communicate if the neighbour was a homosexual couple or a member of a religious sect, the last of the category of people presented.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rferl.org/a/love-thy-neighbor-/29956765.html|title=Love Thy (Russian) Neighbor? Not If They're Gay|website=RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty|date=22 May 2019 |language=en|access-date=2019-07-10|archive-date=25 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190525230304/https://www.rferl.org/a/love-thy-neighbor-/29956765.html|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
According to a 2019 poll carried out by the Russian Public Opinion Foundation (FOM), 7% of Russians agreed that same-sex marriages should be allowed in Russia, while 87% opposed the idea.<ref name="June 2019 poll"/> | |||
{| class="wikitable" | |||
|- | |||
! rowspan=2 | Demographics | |||
! colspan=2 | Support for same-sex marriage<ref name="June 2019 poll"/> | |||
|- | |||
! Yes | |||
! No | |||
|- align="center" | |||
| align="left" | Total | |||
| align="center" | 7% | |||
| 87% | |||
|- | |||
|- align="center" | |||
! colspan=3 | '''Gender''' | |||
|- | |||
|- align="center" | |||
| align="left" | Male | |||
| align="center" | 5% | |||
| 89% | |||
|- | |||
|- align="center" | |||
| align="left" | Female | |||
| align="center" | 8% | |||
| 85% | |||
|- | |||
! colspan=3 | '''Age''' | |||
|- | |||
|- align="center" | |||
| align="left" | 18–30 | |||
| align="center" | 12% | |||
| 82% | |||
|- | |||
|- align="center" | |||
| align="left" | 31–45 | |||
| align="center" | 6% | |||
| 90% | |||
|- | |||
|- align="center" | |||
| align="left" | 46–60 | |||
| align="center" | 7% | |||
| 87% | |||
|- | |||
|- align="center" | |||
| align="left" | 60 and older | |||
| align="center" | 3% | |||
| 88% | |||
|- | |||
! colspan=3 | '''Federal district''' | |||
|- | |||
|- align="center" | |||
| align="left" | Central | |||
| align="center" | 9% | |||
| 84% | |||
|- | |||
|- align="center" | |||
| align="left" | ''– Moscow'' | |||
| align="center" | ''11%'' | |||
| ''80%'' | |||
|- | |||
|- align="center" | |||
| align="left" | North West | |||
| align="center" | 10% | |||
| 84% | |||
|- | |||
|- align="center" | |||
| align="left" | South | |||
| align="center" | 2% | |||
| 94% | |||
|- | |||
|- align="center" | |||
| align="left" | North Caucasus | |||
| align="center" | 4% | |||
| 90% | |||
|- | |||
|- align="center" | |||
| align="left" | Volga | |||
| align="center" | 8% | |||
| 83% | |||
|- | |||
|- align="center" | |||
| align="left" | Ural | |||
| align="center" | 6% | |||
| 88% | |||
|- | |||
|- align="center" | |||
| align="left" | Siberia | |||
| align="center" | 6% | |||
| 89% | |||
|- | |||
|- align="center" | |||
| align="left" | Far East | |||
| align="center" | 5% | |||
| 89% | |||
|- | |||
|} | |||
== Employment discrimination == | |||
], a television news anchor at government-run KontrTV, was immediately fired<ref name=cnn-krasovsky>{{cite news|title=Connect The World: Becky Anderson interview of Anton Krasovsky|url=http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1308/13/ctw.01.html|newspaper=CNN|date=13 August 2013|access-date=14 March 2014|archive-date=15 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190215102740/http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1308/13/ctw.01.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://iz.ru/679211/2017-12-05/zhurnalist-anton-krasovskii-rasskazal-o-svoem-polozhitelnom-vich-statuse|title=Журналист Антон Красовский рассказал о своем положительном ВИЧ-статусе|language=ru|work=]|date=2017-12-05|access-date=2017-12-05|archive-date=10 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171210204107/https://iz.ru/679211/2017-12-05/zhurnalist-anton-krasovskii-rasskazal-o-svoem-polozhitelnom-vich-statuse|url-status=live}}</ref> from his job in January 2013 when he announced during a live broadcast that he is gay and disgusted by the national anti-gay propaganda legislation that had been proposed although had not yet passed.<ref name=nytreactions /><ref>{{cite news|last=Garcia|first=Michelle|title=Russian TV presenter comes out on air, gets fired|url=http://www.advocate.com/politics/media/2013/08/14/russian-tv-presenter-comes-out-air-gets-fired|newspaper=Advocate.com|date=14 August 2013|access-date=14 March 2014|archive-date=8 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190408222632/https://www.advocate.com/politics/media/2013/08/14/russian-tv-presenter-comes-out-air-gets-fired|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
In September 2013, a ] teacher and gay rights activist, Alexander Yermoshkin, was fired from his two jobs as school teacher and university researcher.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://slon.ru/fast/russia/khabarkovskiy-uchitel-lishilsya-raboty-iz-za-seksualnoy-orientatsii-986341.xhtml |title=Хабаровского учителя выгнали из школы и из университета за то, что он гей – Быстрый Slon |publisher=Slon.ru |access-date=7 November 2013 |archive-date=6 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131106002844/http://slon.ru/fast/russia/khabarkovskiy-uchitel-lishilsya-raboty-iz-za-seksualnoy-orientatsii-986341.xhtml |url-status=live }}</ref> A week earlier, he had been attacked by members of a local ] group "Shtolz Khabarovsk".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://amurburg.ru/news/v_kurse_dela/khabarovskie_natsisty_napali_na_lgbt_aktivista_aleksandra_ermoshkina/ |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130928211525/http://amurburg.ru/news/v_kurse_dela/khabarovskie_natsisty_napali_na_lgbt_aktivista_aleksandra_ermoshkina/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=28 September 2013 |title=khabarovskie_natsisty |publisher=Amurburg.ru |access-date=7 November 2013 }}</ref> An activist group called "Movement against the propaganda of sexual perversions" had campaigned for his dismissal.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://amurburg.ru/news/v_kurse_dela/khabarovskie_gomofoby_obedinilis_dlya_travli_izvestnogo_v_gorode_prepodavatelya/ |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130928211449/http://amurburg.ru/news/v_kurse_dela/khabarovskie_gomofoby_obedinilis_dlya_travli_izvestnogo_v_gorode_prepodavatelya/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=28 September 2013 |title=khabarovskie_gomofoby_ |publisher=Amurburg.ru |access-date=7 November 2013 }}</ref> | |||
== Viewpoints of political parties == | |||
The federal law banning LGBT propaganda among minors was passed unanimously by the Russian Duma; as the bill amended an existing child protection law, it is difficult to know whether or not all of the MPs, and their respective political parties, supported every aspect of the bill or not. A few political parties without members in the Duma have expressed some limited support for LGBT rights.{{Citation needed|date=December 2023}} | |||
] is a member of the ], and has organised public demonstrations against intolerance under the banner of building a "Russia without pogroms".<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://liberal-international.org/site/Russian_liberals_march_for_tolerance_in_St_Petersburg.html |title=Russian liberals march for tolerance in St. Petersburg |publisher=] |date=7 November 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117025854/http://liberal-international.org/site/Russian_liberals_march_for_tolerance_in_St_Petersburg.html |archive-date=17 November 2015}}</ref> | |||
The ], formed in 2007, has objected to the government ban on "gay propaganda" as a violation of people's right to freedom of speech.<ref>]. Press Release. 23 April 2012</ref> | |||
In 2016, two openly gay men ran for seats in the Russian duma. While they admit that they probably will not win a seat, they were supported by a liberal coalition. They are also probably the first openly gay candidates to run for seats in the Russian parliament.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Shevchenko|first1=Darina|title=Openly Gay Candidates Push Back In Russia's Duma Elections|url=http://www.rferl.org/a/russia-lgbt-duma-elections-barantayev-korolyov/27981994.html|website=RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty|access-date=15 October 2017|date=12 September 2016|archive-date=15 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170915023403/https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-lgbt-duma-elections-barantayev-korolyov/27981994.html|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
The LGBT rights organisation ] has been monitoring homophobic political parties since 2011.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.gayrussia.eu/russia/1584/|title=В России впервые опубликован поименный список гомофобов, гей-активисты потребуют запретить им въезд в Евросоюз и другие страны|date=17 May 2011|publisher=]|language=ru|access-date=2013-06-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131019062806/http://www.gayrussia.eu/russia/1584/|archive-date=19 October 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> In the middle of 2013 their list included:<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.gayrussia.eu/article282/organisationslist.php |title= Алфавитный список гомофобных партий, организаций и движений |website= ] |language= ru |access-date= 2013-06-15 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130406175312/http://www.gayrussia.eu/article282/organisationslist.php |archive-date= 6 April 2013 |url-status= dead}}</ref> ], ], ], ], ], ], ] and ]. | |||
President Vladimir Putin has used the existence of transgender rights in other countries as justification for the potential deployment of nuclear weapons against Ukraine. In a speech given on September 30, 2022, Putin said "Do we want things that lead to degradation and extinction to be imposed on children from elementary school? Do we want them to be taught that instead of men and women, there are supposedly some other genders and to be offered sex-change surgeries? This is unacceptable to us." before following up by stating that Russia would be willing to use "all means at our disposal" against Ukraine, and saying that the United States "created a precedent" when it used nuclear weapons against Japan in 1945, mirroring comments by other Russian officials that nuclear weapons were on the table.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/30/putin-speech-russia-ukraine-war/ |last1=Dixon |first1=Robyn |title=As war fails, Russia's authoritarian grandmaster backs himself into a corner |newspaper=] |access-date=2 October 2022 |archive-date=3 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221003230334/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/30/putin-speech-russia-ukraine-war/ |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
== Hate crimes == | == Hate crimes == | ||
* On May 9, 2013, after ] parades in ], the body of a 23-year-old man was found tortured and murdered by three males who stated anti-homosexual motivations, even though family and friends state the victim had no behavior inclination.<ref>, MK: In Volgograd, May 9th was celebrated by murdering a gay.</ref> | |||
* On May 29, 2013, the body of openly gay 38-year-old deputy director of ] airport Oleg Serdyuk (] Олег Сердюк) was found in his burned out car, having been beaten and stabbed the previous day. Three suspects, (who were local residents) were detained.<ref>, KP: Deputy director of Kamchatka airport was killed because he was gay.</ref> | |||
]s against LGBTQ individuals are on the rise in Russia. They became more prevalent as a direct consequence of the "gay propaganda law". The introduction of this discriminatory legislation caused a disturbing chain reaction. Across the country, numerous individuals, sometimes with implicit support from authorities, engaged in acts of violence against LGBTQ individuals. Some of those individuals organized ] that viewed the elimination of LGBTQ people as a means of restoring societal order.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Katsuba |first=Sergei |date=2023-09-15 |title=Premeditated, Organized and Impactful: Dating Violence as a Method of Committing Hate Crimes Against LGBTQ People in Russia |journal=Journal of Family Violence |volume=39 |issue=7 |pages=1407–1420 |language=en |doi=10.1007/s10896-023-00638-z |issn=0885-7482|doi-access=free }} {{Creative Commons text attribution notice|cc=by4|from this source=yes}}</ref> The Russian government does not officially record hate crimes against the LGBTQ community, perpetuating a narrative that such individuals do not exist.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Taylor |first=Adame |date=2017 |title=Ramzan Kadyrov says there are no gay men in Chechnya — and if there are any, they should move to Canada |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/07/15/ramzan-kadyrov-says-there-are-no-gay-men-in-chechnya-and-if-there-are-any-they-should-move-to-canada/ |newspaper=Washington Post}}</ref> | |||
==Transgender issues== | |||
In Tsarist Russia, young women would sometimes pose as men or act like ]. This was often tolerated among the educated middle classes, with the assumption that such behavior was asexual and would stop when the girl married.<ref name=glbtq>{{cite web|last=Healey|first=Daniel|title=Russia|work=glbtq: An Encyclopedia of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Culture|publisher=glbtq, Inc|date=2004, last updated 19 July 2005|url=http://www.glbtq.com/social-sciences/russia.html|accessdate=21 May 2009}}</ref> However, ] was widely seen as immoral behavior, punishable by the Church and later the government.<ref name=glbtq /> | |||
Overall, the number of crimes is triple that prior to the law. This has been reported by a number of research projects and NGOs (2 Russian NGOs - LGBT Initiative Group Stimul and SOVA Center and 1 international organization - OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights – ODIHR).<ref>{{Cite web |title=SOVA-Center |url=https://www.sova-center.ru/database/violence/?incidentType=®ion=&year=&month=&dateStart=2007-01-01&dateEnd=2023-04-14&phenotype=183&citizenship=&gender=&rows=phenotype&columns=year&victims=min}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=OSCE Hate Crimes |url=https://hatecrime.osce.org/russian-federation}}</ref><ref name=":7">{{Cite journal |last=Katsuba |first=Sergey |date=2023-02-06 |title=The Decade of Violence: A Comprehensive Analysis of Hate Crimes Against LGBTQ in Russia in the Era of the "Gay Propaganda Law" (2010–2020) |journal=Victims & Offenders |volume=19 |issue=3 |language=en |pages=395–418 |doi=10.1080/15564886.2023.2167142 |issn=1556-4886|doi-access=free }}</ref> In addition to this quantitative change, crimes against LGBTQ people have become more violent, and more are perpetrated by groups rather than individuals.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Buyantueva |first1=Radzhana |last2=Katsuba |first2=Sergei |date=2023-09-14 |others=Burkhardt, Fabian, Orttung, Robert, Perović, Jeronim, Pleines, Heiko, Powell, Ellen, Schröder, Hans-Henning, Snetkov, Aglaya |title=Anti-LGBTQ Discrimination and Violence |journal=Russian Analytical Digest (Rad) |volume=300 |url=http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/631043 |language=en |pages=9 p |doi=10.3929/ETHZ-B-000631043|hdl=20.500.11850/631043 }}</ref> | |||
In Soviet Russia, sex change operations were first tried during the 1920s but became prohibited until the 1960s. Later they were performed by Prof. ], an endocrinologist, authorized by psychiatrist Prof. ], who was the strongest Soviet advocate for transgender people until his death in 2003.<ref name=glbtq /> | |||
=== Increase in hate crime === | |||
==Bans on "homosexual propaganda"== | |||
] | |||
] | |||
Between 2013 and 2018 the number of hate crimes against LGBTQ people tripled. Such crimes existed before 2013, but the level of violence increased significantly after the introduction of the discriminatory legislation. The increase was recorded in the following year,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kondakov |first=Alexander |date=November 2021 |title=The influence of the 'gay-propaganda' law on violence against LGBTIQ people in Russia: Evidence from criminal court rulings |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1477370819887511 |journal=European Journal of Criminology |language=en |volume=18 |issue=6 |pages=940–959 |doi=10.1177/1477370819887511 |issn=1477-3708 |s2cid=210497632}}</ref> and it remained on a higher level throughout the decade.<ref name=":33">{{Cite journal |last=Katsuba |first=Sergey |date=2023-02-06 |title=The Decade of Violence: A Comprehensive Analysis of Hate Crimes Against LGBTQ in Russia in the Era of the "Gay Propaganda Law" (2010–2020) |journal=Victims & Offenders |volume=19 |issue=3 |pages=395–418 |doi=10.1080/15564886.2023.2167142 |issn=1556-4886 |s2cid=256661219 |doi-access=free}}</ref> It was reported that between 2010 and 2020 there were 1056 hate crimes committed against 853 individuals, with 365 fatalities. The number of crimes after the "gay propaganda" law was enacted is three times higher than before (46 in 2010 compared to 138 in 2015).<ref name=":33"/> | |||
These incidents include violent attacks, murders, threats, destruction of property, robberies and others.<ref name=":33"/> | |||
===Local laws=== | |||
Between 2006 and 2013, ten regions enacted a ban on "propaganda of homosexualism" among minors. The laws of nine of them prescribe punishments of administrative sanctions and/or fines. The laws in some of the regions also forbid so-called "propaganda of bisexualism and transgenderism" to minors. As of May 2013 the regions that had enacted these various laws, and the years in which they had passed the laws, included: ] (2006), ] (2011), ] (2012), ] (2012), ] (2012), ] (2012), ] (2012), ] (2012), ] (2012),<ref group=note name=Bashkortostan>Bashkortostan is the only region where the law does not include any kind of administrative sanctions or fines.</ref> and ] (February 2013).<ref group=note name=Kaliningrad Oblast>Kaliningrad Oblast's measure bans "propaganda of homosexualism" not only among minors, but among the population in general.</ref> | |||
After 2013 crime against gay people was found by research to have become more violent, with 67% of hate crime incidents having indications of "extreme violence".<ref name=":33" /> | |||
In June 2012, the Moscow City Court upheld a new law banning gay ]s in the city for the next hundred years.<ref>{{cite news |title=Not The Onion: Moscow Bans Gay Pride for Next 100 years |first=Steve |last=Clemons |authorlink=Steven Clemons |url=http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/06/not-the-onion-moscow-bans-gay-pride-for-next-100-years/258296/ |newspaper=] |date=8 June 2012 |accessdate=8 June 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-19293465 |title=Gay parades banned in Moscow for 100 years |work=] |date=17 August 2012 |accessdate=18 August 2012}}</ref> | |||
Additionally, the crimes became more elaborate, there were more premeditated crimes, committed with preparation (oftentimes by a group of perpetrators with a purposeful selection of a homosexual target) - for 3 years in a row (2017, 2018, 2019) there was an increase in organized hate crimes against LGBTQ, attributed to the activity of homophobic hate groups.<ref name=":33" /> In most of the cases those hate groups used dating apps and websites in order to "hunt" homosexuals. Those attacks would oftentimes include physical abuse and harassment, the videos of attacks are disseminated on the Internet.<ref name=":52">{{Cite journal |last=Favarel-Garrigues |first=Gilles |date=2020-10-01 |title=Digital vigilantism and anti-paedophile activism in Russia. Between civic involvement in law enforcement, moral policing and business venture |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17440572.2019.1676738 |journal=Global Crime |language=en |volume=21 |issue=3–4 |pages=306–326 |doi=10.1080/17440572.2019.1676738 |s2cid=210451169 |issn=1744-0572}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kasra |first=Mona |date=2017-07-03 |title=Vigilantism, public shaming, and social media hegemony: The role of digital-networked images in humiliation and sociopolitical control |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10714421.2017.1343068 |journal=The Communication Review |language=en |volume=20 |issue=3 |pages=172–188 |doi=10.1080/10714421.2017.1343068 |s2cid=148959909 |issn=1071-4421}}</ref> | |||
===National laws=== | |||
{{expand section|date=September 2013}} | |||
In June 2013 the national parliament (the ]) unanimously adopted, and President ] signed,<ref name=bloombergputinsigns>{{cite news|last=Rose|first=Scott|title=Putin signs law banning gay 'propaganda' among children|url=http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-30/putin-signs-law-banning-gay-propaganda-among-children.html|newspaper=Bloomberg|date=1 July 2013}}</ref> a nationwide law banning distribution of "propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations" among minors.<ref name=guardianpropaganda/><ref name="BBC-LGBT">{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/russian/russia/2013/06/130611_duma_gay_propaganda.shtml?print=1|title=Госдума приняла закон о "нетрадиционных отношениях"|publisher=]|date=2013-06-11|accessdate=2013-06-11|archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/6HJ6j62nr|archivedate=2013-06-12}}</ref><ref name="RBC-LGBT">{{cite web|url=http://www.rbc.ru/rbcfreenews/20130611172814.shtml?print|title=ГД приняла закон об усилении наказания за пропаганду гомосексуализма среди подростков|publisher=]|date=2013-06-11|accessdate=2013-06-11|archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/6HJ6l84Me|archivedate=2013-06-12}}</ref><ref name="Шкель">{{cite news|last=Шкель|first=Тамара|title=Закон под "браво!|url=http://www.rg.ru/2013/06/13/chuvstva.html|accessdate=20 August 2013|newspaper=]|date=13 June 2013|language=]|archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/6J171ohNL|archivedate=20 August 2013|deadurl=no|quote=''(translation)'' .. It is now possible to impose a fine of 50 to 100 thousand rubles for gay propaganda on the Internet.}}</ref> The law does not explicitly mention the word "homosexuality", but instead uses the ] "non-traditional sexual relations".<ref name=guardianpropaganda/><ref name=bbcq&a>{{cite news|title=Q&A: Gay rights in Russia|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-23604142|newspaper=BBC News|date=13 August 2013}}</ref> Under the statute it is effectively illegal to hold any gay pride events, speak in defense of gay rights, or say that gay relationships are equal to heterosexual relationships.<ref name=wsjpropagandabill/> | |||
One of the most prevalent hate group - ] became very active in the aftermath of "the gay propaganda law". Launched by ], a.k.a. Tesak, at the peak of its activity it was present in 40 regions of Russia.<ref name=":52" /> The ideology of this hate group was described in Tesak's book Restruct (2012), where he specifically addresses homosexuality, stating that it “cannot be cured” and therefore needs to be exterminated:<blockquote>Restrukt is heterosexual. In all his actions, he relies on the laws of nature, therefore he does not allow any tolerance for homosexuals. He hates them, like all other vices. However, this one, unlike some of the others, cannot be cured. There might be former smokers and former alcoholics, but there cannot be former faggots<ref name=":42">{{Cite journal |last=Katsuba |first=Sergei |date=2023-09-15 |title=Premeditated, Organized and Impactful: Dating Violence as a Method of Committing Hate Crimes Against LGBTQ People in Russia |journal=Journal of Family Violence |volume=39 |issue=7 |pages=1407–1420 |language=en |doi=10.1007/s10896-023-00638-z |issn=1573-2851|doi-access=free }}</ref></blockquote>Between 2010 and 2020 the research identified 205 cases of hate crimes committed by various homophobic hate groups. Moreover, the introduction of the "gay propaganda law" had a noticeable effect on this - the number of cases grew from 2 in 2010 to 38 in 2014. Many of those crimes are committed by Tesak, his followers or copycat movements.<ref name=":42" /> | |||
The law subjects Russian citizens found guilty to fines of up to 5,000 rubles and public officials to fines of up to 50,000 rubles.<ref name=penalties>{{cite news|title=Putin signs anti-gay bill into law|url=http://en.rian.ru/russia/20130630/181970032.html|newspaper=Ria Novosti|date=30 June 2013}}</ref> Organizations or businesses will be fined up to 1 million rubles and be forced to cease operations for up to 90 days. Foreigners may be arrested and detained for up to 15 days then deported, as well as fined up to 100,000 rubles. Russian citizens who have used the Internet or media to promote "non-traditional relations" will be fined up to 100,000 rubles.<ref name=guardianpropaganda/> | |||
=== Some notable cases === | |||
The statute amended a law that is said to protect children from pornography and other "harmful information".<ref name=bloombergputinsigns/> One of the authors of the statute, ], who is the chair of the Duma's Committee on Family, Women, and Children and who has been described by some as a moral crusader,<ref name=sonne>{{cite news|last=Sonne|first=Paul|title=Parody painting of Putin in women's underwear seized in Russian raid|url=http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2013/08/27/parody-painting-of-putin-in-womens-underwear-seized/|newspaper=Wall Street Journal|date=27 August 2013}}</ref><ref name=vcmizulina>{{cite news|last=Mills|first=Laura|title=Morality crusader fuels the fire|url=http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Morality+crusader+fuels+fire/8773256/story.html|newspaper=Vancouver Sun|date=10 August 2013}}</ref><ref name=newyorker>{{cite news|last=Lipman|first=Masha|title=The battle over Russia's anti-gay law|url=http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2013/08/the-battle-over-russias-anti-gay-law.html|newspaper=New Yorker|date=11 August 2013}}</ref> told lawmakers as the bill was being considered, "Traditional sexual relations are relations between a man and a woman.... These relations need special protection".<ref name=wsjpropagandabill/> Mizulina argued that a recent poll had shown 88% of the public were in support of the bill.<ref>{{cite news|last=Flintoff|first=Corey|title=Russian parliament may pass anti-gay law|url=http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=193194578|newspaper=NPR|date=18 June 2013}}</ref> | |||
The crimes committed by the numerous hate groups follow the same scenario.<blockquote>The presumed paedophile is subjected to a filmed interrogation in which the microphone is replaced by a dildo or a toilet brush. Tesak asks him to identify himself, to hold his passport up to the screen, to indicate his address, to say whether or not he is married and if he has children. After the naming and shaming stage, the questions are then aimed at making the presumed paedophile admit his intentions in going to the date and, more generally, his sexual preferences: ‘are you a paedophile or a paederast?’ “Congratulations, you have just completely ruined your life”, jokes Tesak while filming another of his prey lying motionless in his bathtub and being subjected to this pretence of an investigation. The presumed paedophile must often call close people in his life – his wife, children, brother or employer – and has to confess his guilt in front of the camera. His head is sometimes shaved or his hair dyed green. Homophobic and defamatory inscriptions are written on his forehead (‘Fuck LGBT’, or a rainbow flag). He is made to simulate fellatio with a dildo, and to prance around and sing silly songs. Sometimes he is filmed without any clothes on. He is slapped, shouted at and roughed up. The punishment known as ‘urotherapy’ is a common practice in all of Occupy Paedophilia’s videos and a hallmark of neo-Nazi vigilantes. It involves throwing urine in the prey’s face or making them drink it.<ref name=":52" /></blockquote>On 20 January 2013, six demonstrating LGBT activists in the provincial capital of ] were attacked by over 500 people. The protest by these agitators, who appeared with ] and hate slogans and threw snowballs, bottles and other objects at the demonstrators and then beat them up, was not registered. The police assigned 10 officers to this event. The employees of the nearby ] sports shop staged its ]s with Hitler salutes in solidarity with the beating. At least three LGBT activists, including women, were injured and hospitalized during the resistance. On the same day, the author of the Petersburg law against 'homosexual propaganda', ], posted on his Twitter that "Voronezh is great".{{citation needed|date=December 2023}} | |||
] protest LGBT rights violations in Russia. 'El amor siempre gana' translates as 'Love always wins'.]] | |||
Unlike in many western nations, LGBT persons in Russia are not protected by specific legal protections. Violent criminal acts carried out against LGBT people are prosecuted as criminal offences under Russian law, but the fact that these crimes are motivated by the sexual orientation or gender identity of the victim is not considered an aggravating factor when the court determines the sentence. Among the more vicious crimes that would qualify as hate crimes outside of Russia and are reported in the press would include the following; | |||
* On 9 May 2013, after ] parades in ], the body of a 23-year-old man was found tortured and murdered by three males who stated anti-homosexual motivations, even though family and friends state the victim had no behavior inclination.<ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150610201807/http://www.mk.ru/incident/crime/article/2013/05/11/852504-v-volgograde-otprazdnovali-9-maya-zhestokim-ubiystvom-geya.html |date=10 June 2015 }}, MK: In Volgograd, 9 May was celebrated by murdering a gay.</ref> | |||
* On 29 May 2013, the body of 38-year-old deputy director of ] airport Oleg Serdyuk (] Олег Сердюк) was found in his burned-out car, having been beaten and stabbed the previous day.<ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170809201358/http://echo.msk.ru/blog/vladimir_khitrov/1087640-echo/ |date=9 August 2017 }} ] radio station, 3 June 2013, 17:01</ref> Local authorities said the murder was motivated by ].<ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161010162639/http://www.kp.ru/online/news/1453399/ |date=10 October 2016 }}, KP: Deputy director of Kamchatka airport was killed because he was gay.</ref> Three suspects (who were local residents) were tried and sentenced to prison terms of 9 to 12 years.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/04/world/europe/russia-3-jailed-in-anti-gay-case.html|title=Russia: 3 Jailed in Anti-Gay Case|first=Patrick|last=Reevell|newspaper=The New York Times|date=3 February 2014|access-date=4 August 2017|archive-date=15 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190215155855/https://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/04/world/europe/russia-3-jailed-in-anti-gay-case.html|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
* From October 2013 – February 2014, anti-gay attacks targeting the LGBT community in Moscow were reported at Russia's largest gay nightclub Central Station, including gunfire and gas attacks. Several attacks and victim responses were documented in an ABC News Nightline special "Moscow is Burning".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Patria |first=Melia |date=2014-02-12 |title=Russia's Largest Gay Nightclub Strives to Be a Haven Despite Horrific Attacks |website=] |url=https://abcnews.go.com/International/russias-largest-gay-nightclub-strives-haven-horrific-attacks/story?id=22478276 |access-date=2022-03-23 |archive-date=31 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181231012945/https://abcnews.go.com/International/russias-largest-gay-nightclub-strives-haven-horrific-attacks/story?id=22478276 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Patria |first=Melia |date=2014-03-27 |title=Russia's Largest Gay Club Has Shut Down |url=https://abcnews.go.com/International/russias-largest-gay-club-target-anti-gay-attacks/story?id=23075131 |access-date=2022-03-23 |website=ABC News |language=en |archive-date=31 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181231012940/https://abcnews.go.com/International/russias-largest-gay-club-target-anti-gay-attacks/story?id=23075131 |url-status=live }}</ref> Several employees of the club subsequently left the country.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Patria |first=Melia |date=2014-06-26 |title=Russian Drag Performer Builds New Life in US |url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/russian-drag-performer-builds-life-us/story?id=24315102 |access-date=2022-03-23 |website=ABC News |language=en |archive-date=31 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181231012947/https://abcnews.go.com/US/russian-drag-performer-builds-life-us/story?id=24315102 |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
== Transgender issues == | |||
Commenting on the bill prior to its passage, President Putin said, during a visit to Amsterdam in April 2013, "I want everyone to understand that in Russia there are no infringements on sexual minorities' rights. They're people, just like everyone else, and they enjoy full rights and freedoms".<ref name=bbcq&a/> He went on to say that he fully intended to sign the bill because the Russian people demanded it.<ref name=wsjpropagandabill/> As he put it, "Can you imagine an organization promoting pedophilia in Russia? I think people in many Russian regions would have started to take up arms.... The same is true for sexual minorities: I can hardly imagine same-sex marriages being allowed in Chechnya. Can you imagine it? It would have resulted in human casualties."<ref name=wsjpropagandabill/> Putin also mentioned that he was concerned about Russia's low birth-rate and that same-sex relationships do not produce children.<ref name=bloombergputinsigns/> | |||
In Tsarist Russia, young women would sometimes pose as men or act like ]. This was often tolerated among the educated middle classes, with the assumption that such behavior was asexual and would stop when the girl married.<ref name=glbtq>{{cite encyclopedia|last=Healey |first=Daniel |title=Russia |encyclopedia=glbtq: An Encyclopedia of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, transgender, and Queer Culture |publisher=glbtq, Inc |orig-year=2004 |date=19 July 2005 |url=http://www.glbtq.com/social-sciences/russia.html |access-date=21 May 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051027155656/http://www.glbtq.com/social-sciences/russia.html |archive-date=27 October 2005 }}</ref> However, ] was widely seen as sexually immoral behavior, punishable by God promoted through the Church and later criminalized by the government.<ref name=glbtq /> | |||
In Soviet Russia, sex reassignment surgeries were first tried during the 1920s{{Citation needed|date=June 2016}} but became prohibited until the 1960s. Later they were performed by Irina Golubeva, an endocrinologist, authorized by psychiatrist Aron Belkin, who was the strongest Soviet advocate for transgender people until his death in 2003.<ref name=glbtq /> | |||
Critics say that the statute is written so broadly that it is in effect a complete ban on the gay rights movement and any public expression of homosexuality.<ref name=wsjpropagandabill/><ref name=nytreactions/><ref name=bbcq&a/> | |||
On 29 December 2014, Russia passed a road safety law, allowing the government to deny ]s to people with several classes of mental disorders according to ICD-10.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://ivo.garant.ru/|title=ГАРАНТ|website=ivo.garant.ru|access-date=16 June 2016|archive-date=9 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220209183918/http://ivo.garant.ru/|url-status=live}}</ref> Class "F60-69 Disorders of adult personality and behaviour" includes "F64 Transsexualism"<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://icd.who.int/browse10/2016/en|title=ICD-10 Version:2016|website=icd.who.int|access-date=19 May 2020|archive-date=5 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181105125609/http://apps.who.int/classifications/icd10/browse/2016/en|url-status=live}}</ref> Russian and foreign critics perceived the law as a ban on transgender drivers: journalist ] questioned the relevance of a person's transgender identity in regards to their ability to drive.<ref name=bbc-drivinglaw>{{cite news|title=Russia says drivers must not have 'sex disorders'|work=BBC News|date=8 January 2015|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-30735673|access-date=9 January 2015|archive-date=19 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190519042907/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-30735673|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=guardian-transdrivinglaw>{{cite news|title=transgender people in Russia banned from driving, says legal amendment|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/09/transgender-people-russia-banned-driving-legal-amendment-dmitry-medvedev|access-date=10 January 2015|work=The Guardian|archive-date=28 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190428102359/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/09/transgender-people-russia-banned-driving-legal-amendment-dmitry-medvedev|url-status=live}}</ref> On 14 January 2015, Russia's Health Ministry clarified the law, stating that it would only deny licenses to those with disorders that would impair their ability to drive safely, and explicitly stated that one's sexual orientation would not be considered a factor under the law, as it is not considered a psychiatric disorder.<ref name=moscowtimes-transdriving>{{cite web|title=Health Ministry Says Transsexuals Can Still Drive in Russia|url=http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/health-ministry-says-transsexuals-can-still-drive-in-russia/514313.html|website=The Moscow Times|date=14 January 2015 |access-date=23 January 2015|archive-date=16 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160716194846/http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/health-ministry-says-transsexuals-can-still-drive-in-russia/514313.html|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
On 21 July 2013, four Dutch tourists were arrested for allegedly discussing gay rights with Russian youths. The four were arrested for allegedly spreading "propaganda of nontraditional relationships among the under-aged" after talking to teens at a camp in the northern city of Murmansk.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://world.time.com/2013/08/05/russia-faults-in-first-test-of-anti-gay-propaganda-law-but-future-remains-bleak/ |title=Russia’s Anti-Gay Laws: How a Dutch Activist Got Caught in the Crosshairs |work=] |date=2013-08-05 |accessdate=2013-09-24}}</ref> | |||
In 2018, the ] developed a draft medical certificate that will help transgender people with confirming their gender identity on their legal documents. The ] approved this document on January 19, 2018. Up to this point, changes related to the gender change could only be made to the documents on the basis of a court decision. The Ministry of Health explained that, in accordance with the legislation, the registry offices make changes to the birth certificate if a mentioned certificate is submitted.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}} | |||
====Domestic reactions==== | |||
Nearly 90 percent of Russians support the anti-gay propaganda law, according to a survey conducted in June 2013 by the ] (also known as VTsIOM).<ref name="fthomophobicviolence"/><ref name=nytreactions>{{cite news|last=Herszenhorn|first=David M.|title=Gays in Russia find no haven, despite support from the West|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/12/world/europe/gays-in-russia-find-no-haven-despite-support-from-the-west.html?pagewanted=all|newspaper=New York Times|date=11 August 2013}}</ref> | |||
A certificate of gender change required to change person's gender in documents such as a birth certificate and passport, and can be obtained on the basis of a medical commission consisting of a psychiatrist, a sexologist and a medical psychologist. Neither sex-affirmative surgery nor hormone replacement therapy are required. The minimum duration of psychiatric observation is not specified in the final document of the Ministry of Health.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Минздрав разъяснил новую процедуру получения документов о смене пола |url=https://tass.ru/obschestvo/4896437 |access-date=2022-03-05 |newspaper=Tacc |archive-date=28 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220228195428/https://tass.ru/obschestvo/4896437 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://pravo-trans.eu/|title=Проект правовой помощи трансгендерным людям|website=pravo-trans.eu|access-date=28 February 2022|archive-date=1 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220301185250/http://pravo-trans.eu/|url-status=live}}</ref> On average, the commission lasts from 2 days to 1 month.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}} | |||
], a television news anchor at government-run KontrTV, was immediately fired from his job in January 2013 when he announced during a live broadcast that he is gay and disgusted by the legislation that had been proposed although had not yet passed.<ref name=nytreactions/> | |||
On 31 May 2023, a bill to legally ban individuals having any sex change and reassignments within Russia, annulling marriages with partners that have changed gender and banning said individuals from adopting children was introduced in the State Duma.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |date=31 May 2023 |title=Ban gender change |url=https://sozd.duma.gov.ru/bill/369814-8#bh_note |archive-url=https://archive.today/20230530222924/https://sozd.duma.gov.ru/bill/369814-8#bh_note |url-status=dead |archive-date=30 May 2023 }}</ref> On 19 July, the bill unanimously passed its three required readings in the State Duma (lower house of parliament).<ref name=":4">{{cite web |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russian-parliament-expected-back-sex-reassignment-surgery-ban-2023-06-14/ |title=Russian parliament gives initial backing to law banning gender change surgery |date=14 June 2023 |website=reuters.com |access-date=23 June 2023 |archive-date=17 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230617114259/https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russian-parliament-expected-back-sex-reassignment-surgery-ban-2023-06-14/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="LeMonde"/> | |||
Russian Sports Minister ], responding to questions raised in the international community about the implications of the new law on the upcoming 2014 Winter Olympics Games in Sochi, Russia, said the controversy over Russia's anti-gay propaganda law is an "invented problem" created by the Western media<ref name=guardianinvented>{{cite news|title=Russia's anti-gay law uproar an 'invented problem' - sports minister|url=http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2013/aug/18/russia-anti-gay-law-uproar-invented-mutko|newspaper=The Guardian|date=18 August 2013}}</ref> and that the law does not discriminate against anyone.<ref name=mutkodrugabuse>{{cite web|title=Russia: gay relationships like drug or alcohol abuse, says sports minister - video|url=http://www.theguardian.com/sport/video/2013/aug/18/russia-gay-relationships-drug-abuse-minister-video|publisher=The Guardian|date=18 August 2013}}</ref> He said that the law is intended to protect the right of children, whose young minds are still developing, from being exposed to propaganda about non-traditional sexual relationships, in the same way that children should be protected from messages promoting alcoholism and drug abuse.<ref name=mutkodrugabuse/> "We want them to make their own decisions when they grow up".<ref name=mutkodrugabuse/> He also said that the rights of all Olympic athletes, organisers, and visitors in Sochi would be respected. On another occasion, Mutko said, "An athlete of non-traditional sexual orientation isn't banned from coming to Sochi. But if he goes out into the streets and starts to propagandize, then of course he will be held accountable".<ref>{{cite news|last=Mills|first=Laura|title=Russia will enforce anti-gay law during Olympics|url=http://bigstory.ap.org/article/russia-will-enforce-anti-gay-law-during-olympics|newspaper=AP The Big Story|date=1 August 2013}}</ref> | |||
On 19 July, the upper house of parliament unanimously approved the bill as well.<ref name="LeMonde">{{cite web |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/en/russia/article/2023/07/19/russia-s-upper-house-of-parliament-approves-ban-on-gender-changes_6059081_140.html |title=Russia's upper house of parliament approves ban on gender changes |date=19 July 2023 |work=Le Monde |access-date=24 July 2023 |archive-date=24 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230724154626/https://www.lemonde.fr/en/russia/article/2023/07/19/russia-s-upper-house-of-parliament-approves-ban-on-gender-changes_6059081_140.html |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
On 24 July, the bill was signed into law by Russian president ].<ref>{{cite news |title=Russian president signs legislation marking the final step outlawing gender-affirming procedures |url=https://apnews.com/article/russia-lgbtq-transgender-procedures-banned-21b88f53b9a74a646400d63ce93bde6f |access-date=25 July 2023 |work=AP News |date=24 July 2023 |language=en |archive-date=24 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230724230906/https://apnews.com/article/russia-lgbtq-transgender-procedures-banned-21b88f53b9a74a646400d63ce93bde6f |url-status=live }}</ref> State Duma Speaker ] said the number of gender reassignment surgeries in the U.S. has increased by 50 times over the past 10 years, and around 1.4% of all US teenagers aged between 13 and 17 identified themselves as transgender in 2022. He said “''This is the path leading to the degradation of a nation''”, stating that the newly adopted law was designed to avoid such a scenario<ref>{{cite web |url=https://saharareporters.com/2023/07/24/president-putin-signs-new-law-against-transgender-banning-sex-change-russia |title=President Putin Signs New Law Against Transgender, Banning Sex Change In Russia |date=24 July 2023 |work=Sahara Reporters |access-date=26 July 2023 |archive-date=26 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230726141017/https://saharareporters.com/2023/07/24/president-putin-signs-new-law-against-transgender-banning-sex-change-russia |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
The screenplay writer, Yuri Arabov, who is working on a new biopic of Tchaikovsky due to be released in 2015, has claimed that "it is far from a fact that Tchaikovsky was a homosexual".<ref name=NYTScreenwriter>{{cite news|title=Screenwriter Questions Whether Tchaikovsky Was Gay, Sparking Furor in Russia|url=http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/08/23/screenwriter-questions-whether-tchaikovsky-was-gay-sparking-furor-in-russia/?ref=arts&_r=1|newspaper=The New York Times|date=23 August 2013}}</ref> He further added that he would "not sign my name to a film that advertises homosexuality".<ref name=NYTScreenwriter/> The film has been given Russian government funding,<ref name=GuardianArabov>{{cite news|title=Tchaikovsky was not gay, says Russian culture minister|url=http://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/sep/18/tchaikovsky-not-gay-russian-minister|newspaper=The Guardian|date=18 September 2013}}</ref> and Arabov's claim has been reinforced by Russia's culture minister, ], who when questioned on the issue claimed: "Arabov is actually right – there is no evidence that Tchaikovsky was a homosexual."<ref name=GuardianArabov/> Scholars have pointed out that Tchaikovsky's homosexuality is in fact extensively documented in the composer's personal papers and correspondence.<ref name=GuardianArabov/><ref name=AWTchaikovsky/> There has been speculation in the Western press that the removal of all evidence of Tchaikovsky's homosexuality in the film - promoted by its director Kirill Serebrennikov as "the true story of the tragic love and death of the brilliant Russian composer"<ref name=NYTScreenwriter/> - is in response to Russia's anti-gay propaganda law.<ref name=GuardianArabov/><ref name=AWTchaikovsky>{{cite news|title=Sorry, Russia, but Tchaikovsky Was Definitely Gay|url=http://www.theatlanticwire.com/entertainment/2013/08/sorry-russia-tchaikovsky-was-definitely-gay/68679/|newspaper=The Atlantic Wire|date=23 August 2013}}</ref><ref name=GuardianTchaikovsky>{{cite news|title=Tchaikovsky's sexuality 'downplayed' in biopic under Russia's anti-gay law|url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/25/russia-anti-gay-law-tchaikovsky-sexuality|newspaper=The Guardian|date=25 August 2013}}</ref><ref group=note> reported that late in 2012 the director Kirill Serebrennikov had admitted to the cinema website KinoPoisk that he was having trouble finding funding due to officials' concerns about the composer's homosexuality.</ref> | |||
In July 2023, Russia enacted the {{Ill|Law banning gender transition in Russia|lt="Law Banning Gender Transition in Russia"|ru|Закон о запрете трансгендерного перехода в России}}, which includes the following provisions:<ref>{{Cite news |last=MacFarquhar |first=Neil |date=July 24, 2023 |title=Putin signs a harsh new law targeting transgender people in Russia. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/24/world/europe/putin-transgender-transition-surgery-russia.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240106172705/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/24/world/europe/putin-transgender-transition-surgery-russia.html |archive-date=January 6, 2024 |access-date=January 6, 2024 |work=The New York Times}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last1=Birger |first1=Georgy |last2=MacFarquhar |first2=Neil |date=August 1, 2023 |title=Putin's Crackdown Leaves Transgender Russians Bracing for Worse |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/01/world/europe/russia-transgender-ban.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231215223925/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/01/world/europe/russia-transgender-ban.html |archive-date=December 15, 2023 |access-date=January 6, 2024 |work=The New York Times}}</ref> | |||
On 12 October 2013 a demonstration was organized by 15<ref>{{cite news|title=Gay rights protest in St. Petersburg ends in clashes, arrests|url=http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/12/us-russia-gay-idUSBRE99B08B20131012|accessdate=13 October 2013|date=12 October 2013|agency=]}}</ref> to 20 LGBT rights activists in Russia's second largest city ] against the new law banning "]" on the day after the ].<ref name="theguardian">{{cite news|title=Gay rights protest in St Petersburg ends in clashes|url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/12/gay-rights-protest-st-petersburg-arrests|accessdate=13 October 2013|newspaper=]|date=12 October 2013}}</ref> The demonstration was blocked by far-right groups, such as radical Orthodox Christians, ] paramilitaries and nationalists.<ref name="RT"/> After a fight broke out between the groups, the police arrested 67 people from the two opposing groups.<ref name="RT">{{cite news|title=Dozens arrested in Russia as anti-gay activists harass LGBT protesters|url=http://rt.com/news/gay-protest-russia-arrests-124/|accessdate=13 October 2013|date=13 October 2013|agency=]}}</ref> | |||
* doctors are prevented from offering gender-affirming healthcare and sexual reassignment surgery to any individual, regardless of age. | |||
====International reactions and boycott==== | |||
* changing gender markers on official documents is not allowed. | |||
These laws have sparked major controversy around the world. The laws were heavily criticized and the gay community commenced a boycott of Russian goods, particularly Russian vodka.<ref>{{cite news|last=Dodds|first=Eric|title=The Faulty Logic of the Russian-Vodka Boycott|url=http://nation.time.com/2013/08/05/the-faulty-logic-of-the-russian-vodka-boycott/|newspaper=]|date=5 August 2013}}</ref> Notable individuals have also responded to that ban. | |||
* people suffering from gender dysphoria have been deprived of the right to adopt children. | |||
* a marriage by a trans individual with a person who shares the same birth sex as them is deemed null.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-news/russian-president-signs-legislation-outlawing-gender-affirming-procedu-rcna96017 |title=Russian president signs legislation outlawing gender-affirming procedures |website=] |date=24 July 2023 |access-date=24 July 2023 |archive-date=24 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230724200633/https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-news/russian-president-signs-legislation-outlawing-gender-affirming-procedu-rcna96017 |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
In January 2024, ] reported that Russia's ] had begun bringing transgender people in for questioning. According to one transgender subject, he was questioned about where he got the medical certificate approving his transition, how much it cost, who was on the committee to approve it, and if he had attended any LGBT parties. After answering that he didn't remember the answer to the last question, he was told that they would keep bringing him in until he did. | |||
=====Political figures===== | |||
He was also told that if his approval certificate turned out to be invalid, that he would be forcibly detransitioned.<ref>{{Cite news |work=Meduza |url=https://meduza.io/en/news/2024/01/19/russia-s-internal-affairs-ministry-has-reportedly-begun-calling-transgender-people-in-for-questioning |title=Russia's Internal Affairs Ministry has reportedly begun calling transgender people in for questioning}}</ref> | |||
United States President ] said that while he did not favour boycotting the Sochi Olympics over the law, "Nobody’s more offended than me about some of the anti-gay and lesbian legislation that you’ve been seeing in Russia".<ref name=Obama>{{cite news|last=Nakamura|first=David|title=Obama meets with gay rights activists in Russia|newspaper=Washington Post|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2013/09/06/obama-meets-with-gay-rights-activists-in-russia/|date=6 September 2013}}</ref> Obama subsequently, in September 2013, met with Russian gay rights activists during a visit to St. Petersburg to attend a meeting of the ] leaders. Obama said that he was proud of the work the activists were doing. His aides had said that Obama's opposition to the anti-gay propaganda law was one reason Obama had canceled a meeting previously planned to have been held with Russian President Putin during the trip.<ref name=Obama/> | |||
== Propaganda bans == | |||
The law was also condemned by German Chancellor ] and German cabinet secretaries,<ref>{{cite news|title=German ministers say Russan gay law smacks of dictatorship|url=http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/12/us-russia-gays-germany-idUSBRE97B0JS20130812|agency=Reuters|date=12 August 2013}}</ref> British Prime Minister ],<ref>{{cite news|title=David Cameron rejects Stephen Fry's call for Russian Winter Olympics boycott|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/david-cameron/10235001/David-Cameron-rejects-Stephen-Frys-call-for-Russian-Winter-Olympics-boycott.html|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=10 August 2013}}</ref> Australian Foreign Minister ],<ref>{{cite news|last=Potts|first=Andrew|title=Australian foreign minister condemns Russia's 'gay propaganda' ban|newspaper=GayStarNews|url=http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/australian-foreign-minister-condemns-russia%E2%80%99s-%E2%80%9Cgay-propaganda%E2%80%9D-ban230813|date=23 August 2013}}</ref> as well as Canadian Prime Minister ] and Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird.<ref>{{cite news|title=Harper joins controversy over Russia's anti-gay law|url=http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/foreign-minister-baird-concerned-for-olympic-athletes-going-to-russia/article13690657/|newspaper=The Globe and Mail|date=9 August 2013}}</ref> | |||
] | |||
=== |
=== Regional laws === | ||
[[File:Legislative bans on "propaganda" of LGBT in Russian regions.svg|thumb|350px|Ten Russian regions passed laws banning the distribution of "propaganda" relating to homosexuality, and/or other LGBT relationships, to minors. | |||
*In 2012, pop singer ], during a concert in St. Petersburg, denounced a newly enacted local law banning homosexual "propaganda". She told the audience, "I am here to say that the gay community and gay people here and all around the world have the same rights – to be treated with dignity, with respect, with tolerance, with compassion, with love".<ref name=madonnaguard>{{cite news|last=Elder|first=Miriam|title=Russian court rejects complaint over Madonna gay rights comments|newspaper=The Guardian|url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/nov/22/russian-court-madonna-gay-rights|date=22 November 2012}}</ref> In a ] posting, she had called the law a "ridiculous atrocity".<ref>{{cite news|last=Radia|first=Kirit|title=Madonna may be charged under St. Petersburg anti-gay law|agency=ABC News|url=http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2012/03/madonna-may-be-charged-under-st-petersburg-anti-gay-law/|date=23 March 2012}}</ref> Conservative groups filed a lawsuit against her seeking the equivalent of nearly $11 million, arguing that her performance would hurt Russia's birthrate and, as a result, the nation's ability to adequately maintain its army.<ref name=madonnaguard/> One of the claimants said at the trial that although Madonna had "brutally violated" the city's laws, the precedent of the lawsuit would ensure that in the future "any artist coming to our city will know now what laws exist".<ref name=madonnaguard/> The day the case was heard, a member of the Russian parliament said that the singer Lady Gaga, who was due to perform in St. Petersburg the following month, should be banned from performing the song "Born This Way" during her ] stop in Russia.<ref name=nytmadonna/> The case against Madonna was dismissed by the presiding judge.<ref name=nytmadonna>{{cite news|last=Kramer|first=Andrew E.|title=Russian judge dismissed suit against Madonna|newspaper=New York Times|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/23/world/europe/russian-judge-dismisses-lawsuit-against-madonna.html|date=22 November 2012}}</ref> | |||
{{legend|#aa0000|Ban on the promotion of homosexuality, bisexuality and transidentity}} | |||
{{legend|#d40000|Ban on the promotion of homosexuality and bisexuality}} | |||
{{legend|#ff0000|Ban on the promotion of homosexuality}} | |||
]] | |||
Between 2006 and 2013, ten regions enacted a ban on "propaganda of homosexualism" among minors. The laws of nine of them prescribe punishments of administrative sanctions and/or fines. The laws in some of the regions also forbid so-called "propaganda of bisexualism and transgenderism" to minors. As of May 2013 the regions that had enacted these various laws, and the years in which they had passed the laws, included: ] (2006), ] (2011), ] (2012), ] (2012), ] (2012), ] (2012), ] (2012), ] (2012), ] (2012),<ref group=note>] is the only region where the law does not include any kind of administrative sanctions or fines.</ref> and ] (February 2013).<ref group=note name="Kaliningrad">]'s measure bans "propaganda of homosexualism" not only among minors, but among the population in general.</ref> Then, Arkhangelsk (2013) and Saint Petersburg (2014) removed the law.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}} | |||
In 2019, Russia cut and censored gay sex scenes in the movie musical '']'' based on the life of British singer ], a decision he criticized, saying it is "cruelly unaccepting of the love between two people."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://news.trust.org/item/20190531215506-iaz7d/|title=Elton John slams Russian cuts to 'Rocketman' gay scenes|publisher=Thomson Reuters Foundation|website=news.trust.org|access-date=2019-07-10|archive-date=2 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190602163551/http://news.trust.org/item/20190531215506-iaz7d/|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
*British actress ] tweeted a picture of herself with a rainbow flag with Moscow in background, adding in comment: "In solidarity. From Russia with love".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://76crimes.com/2013/07/04/tilda-swinton-joins-protests-against-russian-lgbt-crackdown/ |title=Tilda Swinton joins protests against Russian LGBT crackdown |publisher=76 CRIMES |date=2013-07-04 |accessdate=2013-08-15}}</ref> | |||
=== National laws === | |||
*Polish singer and ] contestant ] cancelled his concert in Russia due to the worsening situation of the LGBT community.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://queer.pl/tablica/193956/rosja-polski-piosenkarz-rezygnuje-z-konkursu-piosenki |title=Rosja: polski piosenkarz rezygnuje z konkursu piosenki - Tablica |publisher=queer.pl |date= |accessdate=2013-08-15}}</ref> | |||
{{Main|Russian anti-LGBT law}} | |||
Federal laws passed on 29 June 2013 ban the distribution of "propaganda of non-traditional sexual relationships" among minors.<ref name="135-FZ">{{Cite Russian law|ru_entity=Российская Федерация|ru_type=Федеральный закон|ru_number=436-ФЗ|ru_date=24 декабря 2010 г.|ru_title=О защите детей от информации, причиняющей вред их здоровью и развитию|ru_effective_date=с 1 сентября 2012 года|ru_published_in=Официальный интернет-портал правовой информации (www.pravo.gov.ru) от 30 June 2013 г. (№ 0001201306300001)|ru_published_date=29 декабря 2010 г.|ru_url=http://pravo.gov.ru/proxy/ips/?docbody=&vkart=card&nd=102281181&rdk=&backlink=1|ru_amendment_type=Федерального закона|ru_amendment_number=135-ФЗ|ru_amendment_date=29 июня 2013 г.|ru_amendment_title=|en_entity=The Russian Federation|en_type=Federal law|en_number=436-FZ|en_date=24 December 2010|en_title=On the protection of children from information harmful to their health and development|en_effective_date=1 September 2012|en_url=|en_amendment_type=Federal law|en_amendment_number=135-FZ|en_amendment_date=29 June 2013|en_amendment_title=On the introduction of amendments to Article 5 of the Federal law "On the protection of children from information harmful to their health and development" and divers legislative acts of the Russian Federation aimed at protecting children from information which propagandises the rejection of traditional family values}}</ref><ref name="guardianpropaganda" /><ref name="BBC-LGBT">{{cite web |date=11 June 2013 |title=Госдума приняла закон о "нетрадиционных отношениях" |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/russian/russia/2013/06/130611_duma_gay_propaganda.shtml |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140301045821/http://www.bbc.co.uk/russian/russia/2013/06/130611_duma_gay_propaganda.shtml?print=1 |archive-date=1 March 2014 |access-date=11 June 2013 |publisher=] Russia}}</ref><ref name="RBC-LGBT">{{cite web |date=11 June 2013 |title=ГД приняла закон об усилении наказания за пропаганду гомосексуализма среди подростков |url=http://www.rbc.ru/rbcfreenews/20130611172814.shtml |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131003040126/http://www.rbc.ru/rbcfreenews/20130611172814.shtml?print |archive-date=3 October 2013 |access-date=11 June 2013 |publisher=]}}</ref> Critics contend the law makes illegal holding any sort of public demonstration in favour of gay rights, speak in defence of ], and distribute material related to ], or to state that same-sex relationships are equal to heterosexual relationships.<ref>{{cite news |date=2 July 2013 |title=Putin signs 'blasphemy' and 'gay propaganda' bills |newspaper=] |url=http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/putin-signs-blasphemy-and-gay-propaganda-bills/482516.html |access-date=9 September 2013 |archive-date=17 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160417035152/http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/putin-signs-blasphemy-and-gay-propaganda-bills/482516.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=5 September 2013 |title=Russia: Use Leadership to Repeal Discriminatory Propaganda Law |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2013/09/05/russia-use-leadership-repeal-discriminatory-propaganda-law |access-date=7 November 2013 |publisher=Human Rights Watch |archive-date=1 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170201035902/https://www.hrw.org/news/2013/09/05/russia-use-leadership-repeal-discriminatory-propaganda-law |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Nakamura |first=David |date=6 September 2013 |title=Obama meets with gay rights activists in Russia |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2013/09/06/obama-meets-with-gay-rights-activists-in-russia/ |access-date=7 November 2013 |newspaper=] |archive-date=13 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150513205328/http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2013/09/06/obama-meets-with-gay-rights-activists-in-russia/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="wsjpropagandabill">{{cite news |last=Alpert |first=Lukas I. |date=11 June 2013 |title=Russia passes bill banning gay 'propaganda' |newspaper=] |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887323495604578539220032220406 |access-date=8 August 2017 |archive-date=20 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190520040958/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887323495604578539220032220406 |url-status=live }}</ref> Additionally the laws have received international condemnation from ] campaigners, and media outlets that even display of ], such as the ], have resulted in arrests, and incited homophobic violence.<ref name="ie-hunted" /> | |||
The law subjects Russian citizens found guilty to fines of up to 5,000 roubles and public officials to fines of up to 50,000 roubles.{{citation needed|date=February 2023}} Organisations or businesses will be fined up to 1 million rubles and be forced to cease operations for up to 90 days. Foreigners may be arrested and detained for up to 15 days then deported, as well as fined up to 100,000 rubles. Russian citizens who have used the Internet or media to promote "non-traditional relations" will be fined up to 100,000 rubles.<ref name="guardianpropaganda"/> | |||
*American singer ] condemned the Russian government for its increasingly anti-gay policies in August 2013.<ref name=gagapink>{{cite web|last=Roberts |first=Scott |url=http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2013/08/05/lady-gaga-the-russian-government-is-criminal-in-its-oppression-of-lgbt-people/ |title=Lady Gaga: The Russian Government is criminal in its oppression of LGBT people |publisher=PinkNews.co.uk |date=2013-08-05 |accessdate=2013-08-15}}</ref> One of the sponsors of the St. Petersburg municipal law against homosexual propaganda requested that Lady Gaga and Madonna both be investigated to see whether either had violated immigration or tax laws during their 2012 concerts in St. Petersburg.<ref name=gagapink/> | |||
The statute amended a law that is said to protect children from pornography and other "harmful information".<ref name="bloombergputinsigns">{{cite news |last=Rose |first=Scott |date=1 July 2013 |title=Putin signs law banning gay 'propaganda' among children |newspaper=Bloomberg |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-30/putin-signs-law-banning-gay-propaganda-among-children.html |access-date=8 March 2017 |archive-date=12 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150112022900/http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-30/putin-signs-law-banning-gay-propaganda-among-children.html |url-status=live }}</ref> One of the authors of the statute, ], who is the chair of the Duma's Committee on Family, Women, and Children and who has been described by some as a moral crusader,<ref name="sonne">{{cite news |last=Sonne |first=Paul |title=Parody painting of Putin in women's underwear seized in Russian raid |url=https://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2013/08/27/parody-painting-of-putin-in-womens-underwear-seized/ |newspaper=] |date=27 August 2013 |access-date=4 August 2017 |archive-date=11 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190811145243/https://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2013/08/27/parody-painting-of-putin-in-womens-underwear-seized/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=vcmizulina>{{cite news |last=Mills |first=Laura |title=Morality crusader fuels the fire |url=https://vancouversun.com/news/Morality+crusader+fuels+fire/8773256/story.html |newspaper=] |date=10 August 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131030144710/http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Morality+crusader+fuels+fire/8773256/story.html |archive-date=30 October 2013}}</ref><ref name=newyorker>{{cite news |last=Lipman |first=Masha |title=The battle over Russia's anti-gay law |url=http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2013/08/the-battle-over-russias-anti-gay-law.html |newspaper=] |date=11 August 2013 |access-date=10 September 2013 |archive-date=6 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131106005344/http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2013/08/the-battle-over-russias-anti-gay-law.html |url-status=live }}</ref> told lawmakers as the bill was being considered, "Traditional sexual relations are relations between a man and a woman.... These relations need special protection".<ref name="wsjpropagandabill"/> Mizulina argued that a recent poll had shown 88% of the public were in support of the bill.<ref>{{cite news |last=Flintoff |first=Corey |title=Russian parliament may pass anti-gay law |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=193194578 |newspaper=] |date=18 June 2013 |access-date=3 April 2018 |archive-date=7 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180107125542/https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=193194578 |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
*British actor ] published on his website an open letter to the ] advocating the ] of the ], scheduled to be held in ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stephenfry.com/2013/08/07/an-open-letter-to-david-cameron-and-the-ioc/ |title=An open letter to David Cameron and the IOC |publisher=Stephenfry.com |date=2013-08-07 |accessdate=2013-08-15}}</ref> | |||
]. Milonov is interviewed in the 2014 American documentary film '']''.]] | |||
*Several prominent entertainers, including Stephen Fry,<ref name=guardianfry>{{cite news|last=Gibson|first=Owen|last2=Luhn|first2=Alec|title=Stephen Fry calls for ban on Winter Olympics in Russia over anti-gay laws|url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/07/stephen-fry-russia-winter-olympics-ban|newspaper=The Guardian|date=7 August 2013}}</ref> American television talk-show host and comedian ],<ref name=nytreactions/> American actor and playwright ],<ref name=advocatefierstein>{{cite news|last=Brydum|first=Sunnivie|title=Harvey Fierstein, Dan Savage equate Russia to 1933 Nazi Germany|url=http://www.advocate.com/politics/2013/08/15/watch-harvey-fierstein-dan-savage-equate-russia-1933-nazi-germany?page=full|newspaper=The Advocate|date=15 August 2013}}</ref> and American author and gay-rights activist ],<ref name=advocatefierstein/> drew parallels between the treatment of LGBT people in Russia and the treatment of Jews in ] in the years leading up to ]. Fierstein, who is Jewish, wrote in a July 2013 ] article in the ''New York Times'': | |||
:<blockquote>"In 1936 the world attended the Olympics in Germany. Few participants said a word about Hitler’s campaign against the Jews. Supporters of that decision point proudly to the triumph of Jesse Owens, while I point with dread to the Holocaust and world war. There is a price for tolerating intolerance".<ref name=fiersteinnyt>{{cite news|last=Fierstein|first=Harvey|title=Russia's anti-gay crackdown|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/22/opinion/russias-anti-gay-crackdown.html|newspaper=New York Times|date=21 July 2013}}</ref></blockquote> | |||
Commenting on the bill prior to its passage, President Putin said, during a visit to Amsterdam in April 2013, "I want everyone to understand that in Russia there are no infringements on sexual minorities' rights. They're people, just like everyone else, and they enjoy full rights and freedoms".<ref name="bbcq&a">{{cite news |date=13 August 2013 |title=Q&A: Gay rights in Russia |work=] |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-23604142 |access-date=20 June 2018 |archive-date=6 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190406024203/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-23604142 |url-status=live }}</ref> He went on to say that he fully intended to sign the bill because the Russian people demanded it.<ref name="wsjpropagandabill"/> As he put it, "Can you imagine an organization promoting pedophilia in Russia? I think people in many Russian regions would have started to take up arms.... The same is true for sexual minorities: I can hardly imagine same-sex marriages being allowed in ]. Can you imagine it? It would have resulted in human casualties."<ref name="wsjpropagandabill"/> Putin also mentioned that he was concerned about Russia's low birth-rate and that same-sex relationships do not produce children.<ref name="bloombergputinsigns"/> | |||
*American actor ] announced he would boycott the St. Petersburg International Film Festival.<ref></ref> | |||
Critics say that the statute is written so broadly that it is in effect a complete ban on the gay rights movement and any public expression of ].<ref name="nytreactions"/><ref name="wsjpropagandabill"/><ref name="bbcq&a"/> | |||
*According to ], Norwegians ] and ] were in support of protests during the Olympic Games in Sochi.<ref name=Grande></ref> | |||
In July 2013, four Dutch tourists were arrested for allegedly discussing gay rights with Russian youths. The four were arrested for allegedly spreading "propaganda of nontraditional relationships among the under-aged" after talking to teens at a camp in the northern city of ].<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://world.time.com/2013/08/05/russia-faults-in-first-test-of-anti-gay-propaganda-law-but-future-remains-bleak/ |title=Russia's Anti-Gay Laws: How a Dutch Activist Got Caught in the Crosshairs |magazine=] |date=5 August 2013 |access-date=24 September 2013 |archive-date=20 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181020171117/http://world.time.com/2013/08/05/russia-faults-in-first-test-of-anti-gay-propaganda-law-but-future-remains-bleak/ |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
=====Athletes===== | |||
{{expand section|date=September 2013}} | |||
*In 2013 Swedish Olympic athlete ] ] in the ] during the ] as an act of defiance against Russia's recent ban on "gay propaganda".<ref name="Шкель"/><ref>{{cite news|title=Rainbow nail varnish could get Swedish athlete imprisoned|url=http://www.channel4.com/news/swedish-athlete-russia-gay-propaganda-emma-green-tregaro|accessdate=20 August 2013|newspaper=]|date=15 August 2013|archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/6J17iyJNH|archivedate=20 August 2013|deadurl=no|quote=Self-expression or gay propaganda? How a Swedish athlete at the Moscow World Championships could be imprisoned for her nail varnish.}}</ref> Legendary Russian Olympic athlete ] condemned Tregaro's action at a press conference, but later said she had been misunderstood due to her poor English.<ref>{{cite news|last=Luhn|first=Alec|title=Isinbayeva says Green Tregaro's gesture was disrespectful to Russia|url=http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2013/aug/15/yelena-isinbayeva-green-tregaro-rainbow-gesture|accessdate=21 August 2013|newspaper=]|date=15 August 2013|archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/6J1kNPtz7|archivedate=21 August 2013|deadurl=no}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Olympics: Isinbayeva says 'misunderstood' over anti-gay remarks|url=http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/afp/130816/olympics-isinbayeva-says-misunderstood-over-anti-gay-remarks|accessdate=20 August 2013|newspaper=]|date=16 August 2013|agency=]|archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/6J187KPlc|archivedate=20 August 2013|deadurl=no|quote=Russian pole vault legend Yelena Isinbayeva attempted Friday to play down the furore provoked by her anti-gay remarks, saying she was "misunderstood" and opposed to discrimination against homosexuals.}}</ref> | |||
In March 2018 the Russian authorities forbade the biggest gay website Gay.ru because of "propaganda of nontraditional sexual relationships".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rbc.ru/rbcfreenews/5abe321c9a79471c0e95d28f|title=Роскомнадзор внес сайт Gay.ru в реестр запрещенных ресурсов|language=ru|work=]|date=2018-03-30|access-date=13 April 2018|archive-date=15 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190215103056/https://www.rbc.ru/rbcfreenews/5abe321c9a79471c0e95d28f|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
*New Zealand Olympic speedskater ] announced his intention of wearing a rainbow-coloured gay-pride pin from the 2012 Olympic Games when he competes at the 2014 Games in Sochi.<ref name=cbsskjellerup>{{cite news|last=Montopoli|first=Brian|title=Olympic hopeful plants to defy anti-gay Russian laws|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57596532/gay-olympic-hopeful-plans-to-defy-anti-gay-russian-laws/?tag=socsh|newspaper=CBS News|date=1 August 2013}}</ref> Skjellerup said that he does not support a boycott of the Sochi Olympics because he and other athletes have worked so hard to compete at the Games. However, he said strongly opposes the anti-gay propaganda law: "I don't think anybody should be persecuted".<ref name=cbsskjellerup/> | |||
In December 2022, an amendment to the propaganda law was signed into law by Putin,<ref>{{cite web |title=Путин подписал закон о запрете "пропаганды нетрадиционных сексуальных отношений и смены пола" |trans-title="Putin signed the law about the ban of 'propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations and gender change'" |url=https://zona.media/news/2022/12/05/prop |access-date=5 December 2022 |website=] |language=ru |archive-date=5 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221205140122/https://zona.media/news/2022/12/05/prop |url-status=live }}</ref> extending it to all age groups. It also prohibits the distribution of materials that promote "pedophilia", or give minors a "]".<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |date=2022-10-27 |title=Russia to ban sharing LGBT 'propaganda' with adults as well as children |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-63410127 |access-date=2022-10-29 |archive-date=25 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221125052112/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-63410127 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Russia Wants to Ban Any Positive Discussion of LGBTQ People |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/g5vmeb/russia-lgbt-law |access-date=2022-10-29 |website=www.vice.com |date=26 October 2022 |language=en |archive-date=24 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221124131128/https://www.vice.com/en/article/g5vmeb/russia-lgbt-law |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |date=27 October 2022 |title=Russian Lawmakers Vote in Favor of 'LGBT Propaganda' Expansion |url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2022/10/27/russian-lawmakers-vote-in-favor-of-anti-lgbt-bill-a79209 |access-date=2022-10-28 |website=The Moscow Times |language=en |archive-date=5 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221205054845/https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2022/10/27/russian-lawmakers-vote-in-favor-of-anti-lgbt-bill-a79209 |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
=====Others===== | |||
*On 21 August 2013 ] said that the painting over of ] markings near Russia's embassy in Oslo—in the rainbow colors—was a "mild" protest.<ref></ref> Furthermore, the same form of protest appeared in ] earlier in the same month.<ref></ref> | |||
In February 2023, the Russian government introduced the AI program Oculus to scan the internet for illegal content, including “LGBT propaganda.”<ref>{{Cite news |url= https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russian-system-scan-internet-undesired-content-dissent-2023-02-13/ |title= Russian system to scan internet for undesired content and dissent |work= Reuters |date= Feb 13, 2023 |access-date= 16 February 2023 |archive-date= 16 February 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230216060417/https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russian-system-scan-internet-undesired-content-dissent-2023-02-13/ |url-status= live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Vainilavičius |first1=Justinas |title=Russia launches "Oculus" tool to monitor banned information online |url=https://cybernews.com/news/russia-oculus-tool-lgbt-ukraine/ |access-date=27 April 2023 |work=CyberNews |date=15 February 2023 |archive-date=23 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230323054456/https://cybernews.com/news/russia-oculus-tool-lgbt-ukraine/ |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
*In September 2013, same-sex "kiss-in's" were held in 50 cities worldwide in protest against Russia's anti-gay laws.<ref>{{cite news|last=Shingler|first=Benjamin|title='Kiss-in' rallies across globe protest Russia's anti-gay laws|url=http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/kiss-in-rallies-across-globe-protest-russias-anti-gay-laws/article14181219/|newspaper=Globe and Mail|date=8 September 2013}}</ref> | |||
In November 2023, Russia's Supreme Court declared the "international LGBT movement" an extremist organisation, following a Ministry of Justice lawsuit citing "various signs of an extremist orientation." This decision raised concerns for LGBTQ+ individuals and organisations in Russia, as it could lead to criminal prosecution for simple acts like displaying the rainbow flag, and was seen as part of President Putin's campaign to emphasize "Russian traditional values." The ruling has been criticized by human rights groups, including ], as "shameful and absurd."<ref>{{Cite web |last=MacFarquhar |first=Neil |date=November 30, 2023 |title=Russia Declares Gay Rights Movement as 'Extremist' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/30/world/europe/russia-gay-rights-law.html |website=]}}</ref> | |||
==Summary table== | |||
On 22 March 2024, the ] declared the "international LGBT social movement and its structural units,” to be a terrorist and ] organization.<ref name=":8" /><ref name=":9" /> | |||
==== Domestic reactions ==== | |||
] ], 1 May 2014]] | |||
According to a survey conducted in June 2013 by the ] (VTsIOM), at least 90% of those surveyed were in favor of the law.<ref name="nytreactions">{{cite news |last=Herszenhorn |first=David M. |title=Gays in Russia find no haven, despite support from the West |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/12/world/europe/gays-in-russia-find-no-haven-despite-support-from-the-west.html?pagewanted=all |newspaper=] |date=11 August 2013 |access-date=27 February 2017 |archive-date=10 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200410004758/https://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/12/world/europe/gays-in-russia-find-no-haven-despite-support-from-the-west.html?pagewanted=all |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="fthomophobicviolence">{{cite news |last=Weaver |first=Courtney |title=Russia gay propaganda law fuels homophobic attacks |newspaper=] |date=16 August 2013 }}</ref> | |||
Russian historian and human rights activist ] has called it "a step toward the ]".<ref name=guardianpropaganda /> | |||
In January 2016, the ] rejected a proposal by the ] to punish people who publicly express their homosexuality with fines and arrests.<ref name="rferl.org">{{cite news|url=http://www.rferl.org/a/russia-duma-rejects-antigay-coming-out-bill/27562736.html|title=Russian Duma Rejects Bill Criminalizing Gay 'Coming Out'|work=]|date=February 19, 2016|access-date=16 May 2017|archive-date=30 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180730081016/https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-duma-rejects-antigay-coming-out-bill/27562736.html|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
==== International reactions and boycott ==== | |||
{{See also|LGBT rights protests surrounding the 2014 Winter Olympics}} | |||
] | |||
International human rights organisations and the governments of developed democracies around the world have strongly condemned this Russian law.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/news/russia-lgbti-g20-2013-09-04 |title=G20 leaders must reject Russia's homophobic law |publisher=] |date=4 September 2013 |access-date=7 November 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131001173348/http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/russia-lgbti-g20-2013-09-04 |archive-date=1 October 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://americablog.com/2013/06/human-rights-watch-blasts-olympics-over-growing-anti-gay-hate-in-russia.html |title=Human Rights Watch blasts Olympics over growing Russian anti-gay hate |publisher=Americablog.com |date=20 June 2013 |access-date=7 November 2013 |archive-date=10 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131110144201/http://americablog.com/2013/06/human-rights-watch-blasts-olympics-over-growing-anti-gay-hate-in-russia.html |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2013/08/15/danish-government-warns-russia-over-anti-gay-law/ |title=Danish Government warns Russia over anti-gay law |newspaper=] |date=15 August 2013 |access-date=7 November 2013 |archive-date=14 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131114162412/http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2013/08/15/danish-government-warns-russia-over-anti-gay-law/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/australian-foreign-minister-condemns-russia%E2%80%99s-%E2%80%9Cgay-propaganda%E2%80%9D-ban230813/ |title=Australian Foreign Minister condemns Russia's "gay propaganda" ban |newspaper=] |date=23 August 2013 |author=Andrew Potts |access-date=14 November 2015 |archive-date=25 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190225183920/https://www.gaystarnews.com/article/australian-foreign-minister-condemns-russia%E2%80%99s-%E2%80%9Cgay-propaganda%E2%80%9D-ban230813/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> The ] has condemned this Russian statute and another similar one in Moldova (which was later repealed) as discriminatory and has made clear that the Russian statute in question is a violation of international human rights law, including the right of gay children to receive proper information.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/moldova-repeals-%E2%80%98gay-propaganda%E2%80%99-ban141013/ |title=Moldova repeals 'gay propaganda' ban |newspaper=] |date=14 October 2013 |author=Andrew Potts |access-date=14 November 2015 |archive-date=16 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190216040850/https://www.gaystarnews.com/article/moldova-repeals-%E2%80%98gay-propaganda%E2%80%99-ban141013/ |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://76crimes.com/2013/08/18/u-n-rights-office-rejects-anti-gay-laws-of-russia-moldava/ |title=U.N. rights office rejects anti-gay laws of Russia, Moldava |publisher=76 CRIMES |date=18 August 2013 |access-date=7 November 2013 |archive-date=29 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029201705/http://76crimes.com/2013/08/18/u-n-rights-office-rejects-anti-gay-laws-of-russia-moldava/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://southfloridagaynews.com/articles/united-nations-asks-russia-to-kill-anti-gay-propaganda-bill/108674 |title=United Nations Asks Russia to Kill Anti-Gay 'Propaganda' Bill |newspaper=South Florida Gay News |date=August 2013 |access-date=7 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927163842/http://southfloridagaynews.com/articles/united-nations-asks-russia-to-kill-anti-gay-propaganda-bill/108674 |archive-date=27 September 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=12964&LangID=E |title=UN rights experts advise Russian Duma to scrap bill on 'homosexuality propaganda' |publisher=] |date=1 February 2013 |access-date=7 November 2013 |archive-date=15 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190215215659/https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=12964&LangID=E |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=Dan Littauer |url=http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/german-and-eu-foreign-ministers-slam-russia-gay-rights300113 |title=German and EU foreign ministers slam Russia on gay rights |publisher=Gay Star News |year=2013 |access-date=7 November 2013 |archive-date=28 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130928065650/http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/german-and-eu-foreign-ministers-slam-russia-gay-rights300113 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The ] has condemned Russia for homophobic discrimination and censorship<ref>{{cite web |url=http://secular-europe-campaign.org/2013/08/eu-the-european-parliament-has-adopted-a-resolution-condemning-russian-homophobic-censorship-law/ |title=EU: The European Parliament has adopted a resolution condemning Russian homophobic censorship law |publisher=Secular Europe Campaign |date=6 August 2013 |access-date=7 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029202326/http://secular-europe-campaign.org/2013/08/eu-the-european-parliament-has-adopted-a-resolution-condemning-russian-homophobic-censorship-law/ |archive-date=29 October 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and the ] has called on Russia to protect LGBT rights properly.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-europe-lgbt-idUSBRE94L0IY20130522 |title=Council of Europe head says Russia must protect LGBT rights |publisher=Reuters |date=22 May 2013 |access-date=7 November 2013 |archive-date=14 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160114213238/http://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-europe-lgbt-idUSBRE94L0IY20130522 |url-status=live }}</ref> The ] had previously fined Russia for other infringements of LGBT rights.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11598590 |title=European court fines Russia for banning gay parades |newspaper=] |date=21 October 2010 |access-date=7 November 2013 |archive-date=2 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191002201959/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11598590 |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2012 the UN Human Rights Committee ruled that a similar statute in the Russia's Ryazan Region was discriminatory, infringed on freedom of expression, and was inadmissible under international law – a Russian court in Ryazan later agreed and struck it down.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ijrcenter.org/2012/12/03/un-human-rights-committee-homosexual-propaganda-conviction-violated-freedom-of-expression/#sthash.KfCC9EKW.dpbs |title=UN Human Rights Committee: "Homosexual Propaganda" Conviction Violated Freedom of Expression |publisher=International Justice Resource Center |date=3 December 2012 |access-date=7 November 2013 |archive-date=27 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927070047/http://www.ijrcenter.org/2012/12/03/un-human-rights-committee-homosexual-propaganda-conviction-violated-freedom-of-expression/#sthash.KfCC9EKW.dpbs |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=Jean Ann Esselink |url=http://thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/a-russian-court-has-struck-down-a-russian-citys-gay-propaganda-law/news/2013/10/03/76206 |title=A Russian court has struck down a Russian city's 'Gay Propaganda' law |publisher=The New Civil Rights Movement |date=3 October 2013 |access-date=7 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131101110054/http://thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/a-russian-court-has-struck-down-a-russian-citys-gay-propaganda-law/news/2013/10/03/76206 |archive-date=1 November 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Some members of the gay community commenced a boycott of Russian goods, particularly Russian vodka.<ref>{{cite news |last=Dodds |first=Eric |title=The Faulty Logic of the Russian-Vodka Boycott |url=https://nation.time.com/2013/08/05/the-faulty-logic-of-the-russian-vodka-boycott/ |newspaper=] |date=5 August 2013 |access-date=12 September 2013 |archive-date=25 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181025080903/http://nation.time.com/2013/08/05/the-faulty-logic-of-the-russian-vodka-boycott/ |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
Many ] celebrities and activists are openly opposed to the law and have encouraged a ] of Russian products – notably Russian vodka – as well as a boycott of the ], which were scheduled to be held in ], unless the Games were ] out of Russia.<ref name=CNNvodka>{{cite news |last1=Smith-Spark |first1=Laura |last2=Black |first2=Phil |title=Protests, boycott calls as anger grows over Russia anti-gay propaganda laws |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2013/08/01/world/europe/russia-gay-rights-controversy |work=CNN |date=4 August 2013 |access-date=9 September 2013 |archive-date=15 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190215155907/https://edition.cnn.com/2013/08/01/world/europe/russia-gay-rights-controversy |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2013/08/05/lady-gaga-the-russian-government-is-criminal-in-its-oppression-of-lgbt-people/ |title=Lady Gaga: The Russian Government is criminal in its oppression of LGBT people |newspaper=] |date=5 August 2013 |access-date=7 November 2013 |archive-date=6 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131006213649/http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2013/08/05/lady-gaga-the-russian-government-is-criminal-in-its-oppression-of-lgbt-people/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Stephen Fry">{{cite web |url=http://www.stephenfry.com/2013/08/07/an-open-letter-to-david-cameron-and-the-ioc/ |title=An Open Letter to David Cameron and the IOC |publisher=] |date=7 August 2013 |access-date=7 November 2013 |archive-date=3 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131103210305/http://www.stephenfry.com/2013/08/07/an-open-letter-to-david-cameron-and-the-ioc/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="huffingtonboycott">{{cite news |last1=Crary |first1=David |last2=Leff |first2=Lisa |title=Russia's anti-gay laws impact Olympics, vodka sales |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/29/russia-gay-laws-olympics-_n_3672746.html |newspaper=] |date=29 July 2013 |access-date=9 September 2013 |archive-date=5 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305021917/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/29/russia-gay-laws-olympics-_n_3672746.html |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
===== Political figures ===== | |||
United States President ] said that while he did not favour boycotting the Sochi Olympics over the law, "Nobody's more offended than me about some of the anti-gay and lesbian legislation that you've been seeing in Russia".<ref name=Obama>{{cite news |last=Nakamura |first=David |title=Obama meets with gay rights activists in Russia |newspaper=] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2013/09/06/obama-meets-with-gay-rights-activists-in-russia/ |date=6 September 2013 |access-date=2 September 2017 |archive-date=13 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150513205328/http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2013/09/06/obama-meets-with-gay-rights-activists-in-russia/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Obama subsequently, in September 2013, met with Russian gay rights activists during a visit to St. Petersburg to attend a meeting of the ] leaders. Obama said that he was proud of the work the activists were doing. His aides had said that Obama's opposition to the anti-gay propaganda law was one reason Obama had canceled a meeting previously planned to have been held with Russian President Putin during the trip.<ref name=Obama /> | |||
The law was also condemned by German Chancellor ] and German cabinet secretaries,<ref>{{cite news |title=German ministers say Russian gay law smacks of dictatorship |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-gays-germany-idUSBRE97B0JS20130812 |work=Reuters |date=12 August 2013 |access-date=5 July 2021 |archive-date=18 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210518202105/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-gays-germany-idUSBRE97B0JS20130812 |url-status=live }}</ref> British Prime Minister ],<ref>{{cite news |title=David Cameron rejects Stephen Fry's call for Russian Winter Olympics boycott |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/david-cameron/10235001/David-Cameron-rejects-Stephen-Frys-call-for-Russian-Winter-Olympics-boycott.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/david-cameron/10235001/David-Cameron-rejects-Stephen-Frys-call-for-Russian-Winter-Olympics-boycott.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |newspaper=] |date=10 August 2013 }}{{cbignore}}</ref> Australian Foreign Minister ],<ref>{{cite news |last=Potts |first=Andrew |title=Australian foreign minister condemns Russia's 'gay propaganda' ban |newspaper=Gay Star News |url=http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/australian-foreign-minister-condemns-russia%E2%80%99s-%E2%80%9Cgay-propaganda%E2%80%9D-ban230813 |date=23 August 2013 |access-date=9 September 2013 |archive-date=25 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190225183920/https://www.gaystarnews.com/article/australian-foreign-minister-condemns-russia%E2%80%99s-%E2%80%9Cgay-propaganda%E2%80%9D-ban230813/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> as well as Canadian Prime Minister ] and Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird.<ref>{{cite news |title=Harper joins controversy over Russia's anti-gay law |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/foreign-minister-baird-concerned-for-olympic-athletes-going-to-russia/article13690657/ |newspaper=] |date=9 August 2013 |access-date=2 September 2017 |archive-date=11 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190411040052/https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/foreign-minister-baird-concerned-for-olympic-athletes-going-to-russia/article13690657/ |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
== Summary table == | |||
{{more citations needed|section|date=December 2023}} | |||
{| class="wikitable" | {| class="wikitable" | ||
|- | |- | ||
! | |||
| Homosexuality legal | |||
! Notes | |||
| ] (since 27 May 1993) | |||
|- | |- | ||
| Same-sex sexual activity legal | |||
| Equal age of consent | |||
| ] Legal since 1993 for men, never criminalised for women.<ref name=RUS33940 /> <br> ] ''De facto'' illegal in ], often punished with life in prison, torture, vigilante execution, vigilante attacks and forced labor camp internment. | |||
| ] (since 27 May 1993)<ref group=note>The age of consent for homosexual acts was never specifically mentioned in the old ''Criminal Code of ]'', which was replaced with the new ] in 1996, and this new Code mentions the age of consent regardless of sexual orientation in .</ref> | |||
|- | |- | ||
| Equal age of consent (16) | |||
| Anti-discrimination laws in any area | |||
|] (since 2003)<ref name=":6"/>{{refn|group=note|The age of consent for homosexual acts was never specifically mentioned in the old ''Criminal Code of ]'', which was replaced with the new ] in 1996, and this new Code mentions the age of consent regardless of sexual orientation (although harsher penalties applies in case of an illicit same-sexual intercourse with a person younger than 16) in Article 134.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.legislationline.org/download/action/download/id/1697/file/0cc1acff8241216090943e97d5b4.htm/preview |title=The criminal code of the Russian Federation |date=13 June 1996 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100215102618/http://www.legislationline.org/download/action/download/id/1697/file/0cc1acff8241216090943e97d5b4.htm/preview |archive-date=15 February 2010 |access-date=15 October 2017}}</ref>}} | |||
| ] (authorities refuse to recognize any need for special legislation) | |||
|- | |||
| Freedom of expression | |||
| ] (Federal ban on distribution of "propaganda" for "non-traditional" relationships and "sex change" to minors since 2013 and to adults since 2022; Public expression of LGBT identity banned since 2023) | |||
|- | |||
| Anti-discrimination laws in employment | |||
| ] | |||
|- | |||
| Anti-discrimination laws in the provision of goods and services | |||
| ] | |||
|- | |||
| Anti-discrimination laws in all other areas (including indirect discrimination, hate speech) | |||
| ] | |||
|- | |- | ||
| Same-sex marriage(s) | | Same-sex marriage(s) | ||
| ] (Constitutional ban since 2020) | |||
|- | |||
| Recognition of same-sex couples | |||
| ] | |||
|- | |||
| Commercial surrogacy for gay male couples | |||
| ] | | ] | ||
|- | |- | ||
| Adoption by a single LGBT person | |||
| Recognition of same-sex couples as de facto couples or civil partnerships | |||
|] Legal for single cisgender LGB people ] Illegal for trans people since 24.07.2023<ref></ref> | |||
| ] (]) | |||
|- | |- | ||
| |
| Stepchild adoption by same-sex couples | ||
| ] |
| ] | ||
|- | |- | ||
| Joint adoption by same-sex couples | |||
| Adoption by single homosexual people who live in Russia or (in case of Russian children) in foreign countries that ''do not'' recognize same-sex marriage | |||
| ] | |||
| ] (no legal restrictions based on ] for single people to adopt)<ref group=note name=adoption/> | |||
|- | |- | ||
| ] banned on minors | |||
| Adoption of Russian children by same-sex couples who live in foreign countries that ''do'' recognize same-sex marriage | |||
| ] |
| ] | ||
|- | |- | ||
| |
| LGB people allowed to serve openly in the military | ||
| ] | |||
| ] (gay people can theoretically serve in the military, but they are strongly advised to hide their homosexuality for the sake of their personal safety)<ref name=milserv/> | |||
<ref name="ksmrus.ru">{{cite web | url=https://ksmrus.ru/info/berut-li-geev-v-armiyu/ | title=Геи, гомосексулисты и армия || Комитет солдатских матерей России }}</ref> | |||
|- | |- | ||
| Right to change legal gender | | Right to change legal gender | ||
| ] (since |
| ] (Banned since 2023) | ||
|- | |- | ||
| Homosexuality declassified as an illness | |||
| ]s allowed to donate blood | |||
| ] (not classified as an illness from 1999 to 2022; new laws introduced on 1 July 2023)<ref name="reuters">{{Cite web |date=June 29, 2023 |title=Russian sexologists to target homosexuality, other 'disorders' under new rules |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russian-sexologists-target-homosexuality-other-disorders-under-new-rules-2023-06-29/ |website=Reuters}}</ref> | |||
| ] (since 16 April 2008)<ref name=blood_donation>{{cite web|title=Russian Health Ministry Ends Ban on Blood Donations by Gays|publisher=UK Gay News|date=23 May 2008|url=http://www.ukgaynews.org.uk/Archive/08/May/2302.htm|accessdate=5 September 2011}}</ref> | |||
|- | |- | ||
| |
| Access to IVF for lesbians | ||
| ] | |||
| ] (ban on homosexual "propaganda" to minors at federal level; some regions have their own legislation banning "propaganda" of homosexuality, bisexuality and/or transgenderism) | |||
|- | |||
| ] allowed to donate blood | |||
| ] (Since 2008) <ref>{{Cite web |title=Россиянам вольют "голубую кровь" |url=https://polit.ru/news/2008/05/23/donors/ |website=polit.ru |language=ru}}</ref> | |||
|} | |} | ||
==See also== | == See also == | ||
{{Portal| |
{{Portal|LGBTQ|Russia}} | ||
{{div col begin}} | |||
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* ] | |||
{{div col end}} | |||
==Notes== | ==Notes== | ||
{{reflist|group=note}} | {{reflist|group=note}} | ||
==References== | == References == | ||
{{Reflist |
{{Reflist}} | ||
== |
== Sources == | ||
{{Refbegin}} | {{Refbegin}} | ||
{{Free-content attribution | |||
*{{cite book|last1=Duberman|first1=Martin|last2=Vicinus|first2=Martha|last3=Chauncey|first3=George|author1-link=Martin Duberman|author3-link=George Chauncey|title=Hidden from history: reclaiming the gay and lesbian past|year=1989|publisher=New York: New American Library|isbn=978-0-453-00689-7|oclc=19669484|ref=Dub89}} | |||
| title = Out in the Open: Education sector responses to violence based on sexual orientation and gender identity/expression | |||
*{{cite web|last1=Petrov|first1=Igor|last2=Kirichenko|first2=Ksenia|title=Discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in Russia|work=Report by the in cooperation with the |date=5 April 2009|url=http://lgbtnet.ru/news/detail.php?ID=4336|accessdate=25 May 2009|ref=LGBTReport2009}} | |||
| author = UNESCO | |||
| publisher = UNESCO | |||
| page numbers = 45 | |||
| source = UNESCO | |||
| documentURL = http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0024/002447/244756e.pdf | |||
| license statement URL = http://www.unesco.org/ulis/cgi-bin/ulis.pl?catno=244756&set=0058EDE0FB_3_252&gp=1&lin=1&ll=1 | |||
| license = CC-BY-SA IGO 3.0 | |||
}} | |||
* {{cite book|last1=Duberman|first1=Martin|last2=Vicinus|first2=Martha|last3=Chauncey|first3=George|author1-link=Martin Duberman|author3-link=George Chauncey|title=Hidden from history: reclaiming the gay and lesbian past|year=1989|publisher=New York: New American Library|isbn=978-0-453-00689-7|oclc=19669484|ref=Dub89|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/hiddenfromhisto100dube}} | |||
* {{cite journal |last=Engelstein |first=Laura |author-link=Laura Engelstein |title=Soviet Policy Toward Male Homosexuality: Its Origins and Historical Roots |journal=Journal of Homosexuality |volume=29 |issue=2–3 |pages=155–178 |publisher=Hayworth Press |location=Philadelphia |date=1995 |url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8666753/ |issn=1540-3602 |doi=10.1300/J082v29n02_06 |pmid=8666753 |access-date=13 December 2023}} | |||
* {{cite web|last1=Petrov|first1=Igor|last2=Kirichenko|first2=Ksenia|title=Discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in Russia|work=Report by the in cooperation with the |date=5 April 2009|url=http://lgbtnet.ru/news/detail.php?ID=4336|access-date=25 May 2009|ref=LGBTReport2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110601043745/http://www.lgbtnet.ru/news/detail.php?ID=4336|archive-date=1 June 2011|url-status=dead}} | |||
{{Refend}} | {{Refend}} | ||
== Further reading == | |||
==External links== | |||
{{See also|Bibliography of Russian history (1991-present)}} | |||
{{Commons category|LGBT in Russia}} | |||
* {{Citation | vauthors=((Bubola, E.)) | date=December 5, 2022 | website=The New York Times | title=Putin Signs Law Banning Expressions of L.G.B.T.Q. Identity in Russia | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/05/world/europe/russia-ban-lgbtq-propaganda.html | access-date=7 January 2023}} | |||
* | |||
* Clark, F. (2014). "Discrimination against LGBT people triggers health concerns." ''Lancet,'' 383(9916), 500–502. | |||
* {{cite journal |first=Eric Allen |last=Engle |title=Gay Rights in Russia? Russia's Ban on Gay Pride Parades and the General Principle of Proportionality in International Law |year=2013 |volume=6 |issue=2 |journal=Journal of Eurasian Law |pages=165–186 |ssrn=2296803 }} | |||
* {{Citation | vauthors=((Ilyushina, M.)), ((Gelman, M.)) | date=January 7, 2023 | newspaper=The Washington Post | title=Moscow's war in Ukraine brought harsh tactics against gay Russians at home | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/01/07/russia-war-gay-persecution-homophobia/ | access-date=7 January 2023}} | |||
== External links == | |||
{{Commons category|LGBT rights in Russia}} | |||
* | |||
* | * | ||
* | * | ||
* | * | ||
* | * {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131106011349/http://english.gay.ru/news/rainbow/2004/02/14-10528.htm |date=6 November 2013 }} | ||
* | * {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131106011632/http://english.gay.ru/news/rainbow/2004/05/22-10508.htm |date=6 November 2013 }} | ||
*, Xtra Magazine, 14 June 2014 (en) | |||
{{ |
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{{Russia topics}} | {{Russia topics}} | ||
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Lgbt Rights In Russia}} | |||
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] |
Latest revision as of 02:54, 21 December 2024
LGBTQ rights in Russia | |
---|---|
Status | Same-sex sexual activity legal since 1993 for consenting men and not criminalised for women. "Promotion" of LGBT identity illegal since 2013 (homosexuality) and 2022 (trans identity) |
Penalty | In Chechnya: up to death since 2017 |
Gender identity | Gender change legal between 1997 and 2023, illegal afterwards |
Military | LGBT people can serve in the army, there are no restrictions. |
Discrimination protections | None |
Family rights | |
Recognition of relationships | No recognition of same-sex unions |
Restrictions | Same-sex marriage constitutionally banned since 2020 |
Adoption | Allowed to adopt by a single person |
Part of a series on |
LGBTQ rights |
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Lesbian ∙ Gay ∙ Bisexual ∙ Transgender ∙ Queer |
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Related |
LGBTQ portal |
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people in Russia face severe legal and social challenges not experienced by non-LGBTQ residents. Although sexual activity between consenting adults of the same sex is legal, homosexuality is disapproved of by most of the population and pro-LGBTQ advocacy groups are deemed "extremist" and banned. It is illegal for individuals to "promote homosexuality" and same-sex couples and households headed by same-sex couples are ineligible for the legal protections available to opposite-sex couples. Russia provides no anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ people and does not have a designation for hate crimes based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Transgender people are not allowed to change their legal gender and all gender-affirming care is banned. There are currently no laws prohibiting discrimination based on gender identity or expression, and recent laws could be used to discriminate against transgender residents.
Russia has long held strongly negative views regarding homosexuality, with recent polls indicating that a majority of Russians are against the acceptance of homosexuality and have shown support for laws discriminating against homosexuals. Despite receiving international criticism for the recent increase in social discrimination, crimes, and violence against homosexuals, larger cities such as Moscow and Saint Petersburg have been said to have a thriving LGBTQ community. However, there has been a historic resistance to gay pride parades by local governments; despite being fined by the European Court of Human Rights in 2010 for interpreting it as discrimination, the city of Moscow denied 100 individual requests for permission to hold Moscow Pride through 2012, citing a risk of violence against participants. In 2016, Russia was rated the second least LGBT-friendly nation in Europe by ILGA-Europe. In 2024, the status of LGBTQ rights in Russia was ranked the worst out of the 49 countries surveyed within Europe.
In December 1917, after the October Revolution, the Russian Soviet Republic (later the Russian SFSR) decriminalised homosexuality. However, the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin would later recriminalise sex between men in March 1934 with the addition of Article 154-a to the Soviet criminal code, which punished consensual anal sex between men with three to five years' imprisonment. The revised criminal code of 1961 continued to classify sexual relations between men as a crime, relocating it to Article 121 and providing for only a maximum of five years' imprisonment for consensual sex. Western observers estimated that, during the Soviet era, between 800 and 1000 men were imprisoned per year under Article 121. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, homosexual acts between consenting males were re-legalised in 1993 (they had not been criminalised for women), removing Article 121 from the RSFSR penal code.
Since 2006, under Vladimir Putin, regions in Russia have enacted varying laws restricting the distribution of materials promoting LGBTQ relationships to minors; in June 2013, a federal law criminalizing the distribution of materials among minors in support of non-traditional sexual relationships was enacted as an amendment to an existing child protection law. The law has resulted in the numerous arrests of Russian LGBTQ citizens publicly opposing the law and there has reportedly been a surge of anti-gay protests, violence, and even hate crimes. It has received international criticism from human rights observers, LGBTQ activists, and media outlets and has been viewed as a de facto means of criminalizing LGBTQ culture. The law was ruled to be inconsistent with protection of freedom of expression by the European Court of Human Rights but as of 2021 has not been repealed. In 2022, the law was extended to apply to anyone regardless of age, thus making any expression deemed a promotion of non-traditional sexual relationships illegal.
In a report issued on 13 April 2017, a panel of five expert advisors to the United Nations Human Rights Council—Vitit Muntarbhorn, Sètondji Roland Adjovi; Agnès Callamard; Nils Melzer; and David Kaye—condemned the wave of torture and killings of gay men in Chechnya.
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the authorities have stepped up reactionary measures, particularly against trans people. On 24 July 2023, President Putin signed into law a bill banning [ru] gender-affirming care in Russia.
On 30 November 2023, the Supreme Court ruled the international LGBTQ movement to be "extremist", outlawing it in the country. The next day, Russian security forces raided bars, male saunas and nightclubs across Moscow.
History
Main article: LGBTQ history in RussiaUnder the reign of Peter the Great in the 18th, who introduced a wide range of reforms aimed at modernizing and Westernizing Russia, there was a ban on male homosexual activity, but only in military statutes for soldiers. In 1832, the criminal code included Article 995, which stated that muzhelozhstvo (Russian: мужеложство, 'sodomy'), or men lying with men, was a criminal act punishable by exile to Siberia for up to 5 years. Men lying with men was interpreted by courts as meaning anal sex. Application of the laws was rare, and the turn of the century found a relaxation of these laws and a general growing of tolerance and visibility.
In the wake of the October Revolution, the Bolshevik regime decriminalized homosexuality. The Bolsheviks rewrote the constitution and "produced two Criminal Codes – in 1922 and 1926 – and an article prohibiting homosexual sex was left off both." The new Communist Party government removed the old laws regarding sexual relations, effectively legalising homosexual intercourse within Russia, although it remained illegal in other territories of the Soviet Union, and the homosexuals in Russia were still persecuted and sacked from their jobs. Under Joseph Stalin, the Soviet Union recriminalized homosexuality in a decree signed in 1933. The new Article 154-a, later relocated to Article 121 in 1961, punished sexual relations between men with up to five years' imprisonment and led to several raids and arrests. Female homosexuals were sent to mental institutions. The decree was part of a broader campaign against "deviant" behavior and "Western degeneracy". Following Stalin's death, there was a liberalisation of attitudes toward sexual issues in the Soviet Union, but homosexual acts remained illegal. Discrimination against LGBT individuals persisted in the Soviet era, and homosexuality was not officially declassified as a mental illness until 1999.
Soviet Article 121 was often commonly used to extend prison sentences and to control dissidents. Among those imprisoned were the well-known film director Sergei Paradjanov and the poet Gennady Trifonov. Under Mikhail Gorbachev's administration in the late 1980s, the first gay organisation came into being. The Moscow Gay & Lesbian Alliance was headed by Yevgeniya Debryanskaya and Roman Kalinin, who became the editor of the first officially registered gay newspaper, Tema. The fall of the USSR accelerated the progress of the gay movement in Russia. Gay publications and plays appeared. In 1993, a new Russian Criminal Code was signed, without Article 121. Men who had been imprisoned began to be released.
Current situation
- The age of consent currently stands at 16 since 2003, regardless of sexual orientation.
- Homosexuality was officially removed from the Russian list of mental illnesses in 1999 (after the endorsement of the World Health Organization's ICD-10 classifications). However, there is a movement within Russia to bring it back. The Russian government introduced new laws on 1 July 2023 to effectively reinstate the classification of homosexuality as a mental illness.
- Single persons living within Russia, regardless of their sexual orientation, can adopt children. Russian children can be adopted by a single person who lives in a foreign country provided that country does not recognize same-sex marriage. A couple can adopt children together, as a couple, only if they are a married heterosexual couple.
- The Russian constitution guarantees the right of peaceful association. Nevertheless, organs of authority in Russia refuse to register LGBTQ organisations, and pro-LGBTQ advocacy groups have been declared extremist organisations and therefore prohibited from operating within Russian territory.
Public opinion
Public opinion in Russia tends to be hostile toward homosexuality and the level of intolerance has been rising. A 2022 survey found that 74% of Russians said homosexuality should not be accepted by society (up from 60% in 2002), compared to 14% who said that homosexuality should be accepted by society. In a 2015 survey of 2,471 Russians, 86% said homosexuality should not be accepted by society. In a 2007 survey, 68% of Russians said homosexuality is always wrong (54%) or almost always wrong (14%). In a 2005 poll, 44% of Russians were in favour of making homosexual acts between consenting adults a criminal act; at the same time, 43% of Russians supported a legal ban on discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. In 2013, 16% of Russians surveyed said that gay people should be isolated from society, 22% said they should be forced to undergo treatment, and 5% said homosexuals should be "liquidated". In Russian psychiatry, Soviet mentality about homosexuality has endured into the present day. For instance, in spite of the removal of homosexuality from the nomenclature of mental disorders, 62.5% of 450 surveyed psychiatrists in the Rostov Region view it as an illness, and up to three-quarters view it as immoral behavior. The psychiatrists sustain the objections to pride parades and the use of veiled schemes to lay off openly lesbian and gay persons from schools, child care centres, and other public institutions. A Russian motorcycle club called the Night Wolves, which is closely associated with Russian President Vladimir Putin and which suggests "Death to faggots" as an alternate name for itself, organised a large Anti-Maidan rally in February 2015 at which a popular slogan was "We don't need Western ideology and gay parades!"
Same-sex unions
Main article: Recognition of same-sex unions in RussiaNeither same-sex marriages nor civil unions of same-sex couples are allowed in Russia. In July 2013, Patriarch Kirill, the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, of which approximately 71% of Russians are adherents, said that the idea of same-sex marriage was "a very dangerous sign of the Apocalypse". At a 2011 press conference, the head of the Moscow Registry Office, Irina Muravyova, declared: "Attempts by same-sex couples to marry both in Moscow and elsewhere in Russia are doomed to fail. We live in a civil society, we are guided by the federal law, by the Constitution that clearly says: marriage in Russia is between a man and a woman. Such a marriage cannot be contracted in Russia." The vast majority of the Russian public are also against same-sex marriage. In July 2020, Russian voters approved a Constitution amendment banning same-sex marriage. In the 2021 case Fedotova and Others v. Russia, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that it was a violation of human rights for Russia not to offer any form of legal recognition to same-sex relationships. However, Russia left the court in 2022.
Military service
Before 1993, homosexual acts between consenting males were against the law in Russia, and homosexuality was considered a mental disorder until adoption of ICD-10 in 1999, but even after that military medical expertise statute was in force to continue considering homosexuality a mental disorder which was a reason to deny homosexuals to serve in the military. On 1 July 2003, a new military medical expertise statute was adopted; it said people "who have problems with their identity and sexual preferences" can only be drafted during war times. However, this clause contradicted another clause of the same statute which stated that different sexual orientation should not be considered a deviation. This ambiguity was resolved by the Major-General of the Medical Service Valery Kulikov who clearly stated that the new medical statute "does not forbid people of non-standard sexual orientation from serving in the military." However, he added that people of non-standard sexual orientation should not reveal their sexual orientation while serving in the army because "other soldiers are not going to like that; they can be beaten". President Vladimir Putin said in a U.S. television interview in 2010 that openly gay men were not excluded from military service in Russia. In 2013, it was reported that the Defense Ministry had issued a guideline on assessment of new recruits' mental health that recommends recruits be asked about their sexual history and be examined for certain types of tattoos, especially genital or buttocks tattoos, that would allegedly indicate a homosexual orientation.
As of April and May 2023 there has been a proposed crackdown on the changing of genders. The Russian State Duma is considering passing new laws to prevent men from changing their gender from male to female without surgery. The proposed changes, as first discussed by the Russian Minister of Justice, Konstantin Chuychenko, in April are to "rule out the possibility of changing a person’s gender purely by changing the documents.” Duma Committee on Family, Women, and Children's Affairs head Nina Ostanina said: "Amendments will soon be introduced in the State Duma to officially ban gender reassignment without surgery," In part it is to protect "family values" in Russia. However Russian men have considered changing their genders to avoid being called by the military authorities. According to one Russian source "In connection with the special operation, many young people have turned to private clinics to provide a sex change to avoid conscription..."Vyacheslav Volodin, Speaker of the Duma, claims that some "2,700" such decisions have been made in "recent times".
Gay pride events
There have been notable objections to the organisation of gay pride parades in several Russian cities, most prominently Moscow, where authorities have never approved a request to hold a gay pride rally. Former Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov supported the city's refusal to authorize the first two editions of Nikolay Alexeyev's Moscow Pride events, calling them as "satanic". The events still went on as planned, in defiance of their lack of authorisation. In 2010, Russia was fined by the European Court of Human Rights, ruling that, as alleged by Alexeyev, Russian cities were discriminating against the gay community by refusing to authorize pride parades. Although authorities had claimed allowing pride events to be held would pose a risk of violence, the Court ruled that their decisions "effectively approved of and supported groups who had called for disruption." In August 2012, contravening the previous ruling, the Moscow City Court upheld a ruling blocking requests by the organisers of Moscow Pride for authorisation to hold the parade yearly through 2112, citing the possibility of public disorder and a lack of support for such events by residents of Moscow.
Chechnya
Main articles: LGBT rights in Chechnya and Anti-gay purges in ChechnyaAnti-gay purges in the Chechen Republic have included forced disappearances — secret abductions, imprisonment, and torture — by authorities targeting persons based on their perceived sexual orientation. An unknown number of men, who authorities detained on suspicion of being gay or bisexual, have reportedly died after being held in what human rights groups and eyewitnesses have called concentration camps.
Allegations were initially reported on 1 April 2017 in Novaya Gazeta, a Russian-language opposition newspaper, which reported that since February 2017 over 100 men had allegedly been detained and tortured and at least three had died in an extrajudicial killing. The paper, citing its sources in the Chechen special services, called the wave of detentions a "prophylactic sweep". The journalist who first reported on the subject went into hiding. There have been calls for reprisals against journalists who report on the situation.
As news spread of Chechen authorities' actions, which have been described as part of a systematic anti-LGBTQ purge, Russian and international activists scrambled to evacuate survivors of the camps and other vulnerable Chechens but were met with difficulty obtaining visas to conduct them safely beyond Russia.
The reports of the persecution were met with a variety of reactions worldwide. The Head of the Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov denied not only the occurrence of any persecution but also the existence of gay men in Chechnya, adding that such people would be killed by their own families. Officials in Moscow were sceptical, although in late May the Russian government reportedly agreed to send an investigative team to Chechnya. Numerous national leaders and other public figures in the West condemned Chechnya's actions, and protests were held in Russia and elsewhere. A report released in December 2018 by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) confirmed claims that persecution of LGBTQ persons had taken place and was ignored by authorities.
On 11 January 2019, it was reported that another 'gay purge' had begun in the country in December 2018, with several gay men and women being detained. The Russian LGBT Network believes that around 40 persons were detained and two killed.
In March 2021, Reuters reported that the European Union imposed economic sanctions on two Chechen officials accused of persecuting LGBTQ people in Chechnya.
Public opinion
Support for same-sex marriage in the Russian Federation (2019 poll)
Oppose (87%) Support (7%) Other (6%)Russia has traditionally been socially conservative on LGBT rights, with 2013 polls indicating a large majority of Russians oppose legal recognition of same-sex marriage, and support for laws restricting the distribution of "propaganda" that promotes non-traditional sexual relationships.
In 2019, a survey showed that 47% of Russian respondents agreed that "gays and lesbians should enjoy the same rights as other citizens," while 43 percent disagreed, a rise from 39% in 2013. This marks the highest level of support in 14 years.
In 2019, a poll showed that only 2% would show interest and a willingness to communicate if the neighbour was a homosexual couple or a member of a religious sect, the last of the category of people presented.
According to a 2019 poll carried out by the Russian Public Opinion Foundation (FOM), 7% of Russians agreed that same-sex marriages should be allowed in Russia, while 87% opposed the idea.
Demographics | Support for same-sex marriage | |
---|---|---|
Yes | No | |
Total | 7% | 87% |
Gender | ||
Male | 5% | 89% |
Female | 8% | 85% |
Age | ||
18–30 | 12% | 82% |
31–45 | 6% | 90% |
46–60 | 7% | 87% |
60 and older | 3% | 88% |
Federal district | ||
Central | 9% | 84% |
– Moscow | 11% | 80% |
North West | 10% | 84% |
South | 2% | 94% |
North Caucasus | 4% | 90% |
Volga | 8% | 83% |
Ural | 6% | 88% |
Siberia | 6% | 89% |
Far East | 5% | 89% |
Employment discrimination
Anton Krasovsky, a television news anchor at government-run KontrTV, was immediately fired from his job in January 2013 when he announced during a live broadcast that he is gay and disgusted by the national anti-gay propaganda legislation that had been proposed although had not yet passed.
In September 2013, a Khabarovsk teacher and gay rights activist, Alexander Yermoshkin, was fired from his two jobs as school teacher and university researcher. A week earlier, he had been attacked by members of a local neo-Nazi group "Shtolz Khabarovsk". An activist group called "Movement against the propaganda of sexual perversions" had campaigned for his dismissal.
Viewpoints of political parties
The federal law banning LGBT propaganda among minors was passed unanimously by the Russian Duma; as the bill amended an existing child protection law, it is difficult to know whether or not all of the MPs, and their respective political parties, supported every aspect of the bill or not. A few political parties without members in the Duma have expressed some limited support for LGBT rights.
Yabloko is a member of the Liberal International, and has organised public demonstrations against intolerance under the banner of building a "Russia without pogroms".
The Libertarian Party of Russia, formed in 2007, has objected to the government ban on "gay propaganda" as a violation of people's right to freedom of speech.
In 2016, two openly gay men ran for seats in the Russian duma. While they admit that they probably will not win a seat, they were supported by a liberal coalition. They are also probably the first openly gay candidates to run for seats in the Russian parliament.
The LGBT rights organisation Gayrussia.ru has been monitoring homophobic political parties since 2011. In the middle of 2013 their list included: United Russia, Communist Party of Russian Federation, Narodnaya Volya, National Bolshevik Party, National Bolshevik Front, Patriots of Russia, Eurasian Youth Union and Fair Russia.
President Vladimir Putin has used the existence of transgender rights in other countries as justification for the potential deployment of nuclear weapons against Ukraine. In a speech given on September 30, 2022, Putin said "Do we want things that lead to degradation and extinction to be imposed on children from elementary school? Do we want them to be taught that instead of men and women, there are supposedly some other genders and to be offered sex-change surgeries? This is unacceptable to us." before following up by stating that Russia would be willing to use "all means at our disposal" against Ukraine, and saying that the United States "created a precedent" when it used nuclear weapons against Japan in 1945, mirroring comments by other Russian officials that nuclear weapons were on the table.
Hate crimes
Hate crimes against LGBTQ individuals are on the rise in Russia. They became more prevalent as a direct consequence of the "gay propaganda law". The introduction of this discriminatory legislation caused a disturbing chain reaction. Across the country, numerous individuals, sometimes with implicit support from authorities, engaged in acts of violence against LGBTQ individuals. Some of those individuals organized hate groups that viewed the elimination of LGBTQ people as a means of restoring societal order. The Russian government does not officially record hate crimes against the LGBTQ community, perpetuating a narrative that such individuals do not exist.
Overall, the number of crimes is triple that prior to the law. This has been reported by a number of research projects and NGOs (2 Russian NGOs - LGBT Initiative Group Stimul and SOVA Center and 1 international organization - OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights – ODIHR). In addition to this quantitative change, crimes against LGBTQ people have become more violent, and more are perpetrated by groups rather than individuals.
Increase in hate crime
Between 2013 and 2018 the number of hate crimes against LGBTQ people tripled. Such crimes existed before 2013, but the level of violence increased significantly after the introduction of the discriminatory legislation. The increase was recorded in the following year, and it remained on a higher level throughout the decade. It was reported that between 2010 and 2020 there were 1056 hate crimes committed against 853 individuals, with 365 fatalities. The number of crimes after the "gay propaganda" law was enacted is three times higher than before (46 in 2010 compared to 138 in 2015).
These incidents include violent attacks, murders, threats, destruction of property, robberies and others.
After 2013 crime against gay people was found by research to have become more violent, with 67% of hate crime incidents having indications of "extreme violence".
Additionally, the crimes became more elaborate, there were more premeditated crimes, committed with preparation (oftentimes by a group of perpetrators with a purposeful selection of a homosexual target) - for 3 years in a row (2017, 2018, 2019) there was an increase in organized hate crimes against LGBTQ, attributed to the activity of homophobic hate groups. In most of the cases those hate groups used dating apps and websites in order to "hunt" homosexuals. Those attacks would oftentimes include physical abuse and harassment, the videos of attacks are disseminated on the Internet.
One of the most prevalent hate group - Occupy Pedophilia became very active in the aftermath of "the gay propaganda law". Launched by Maxim Martsinkevich, a.k.a. Tesak, at the peak of its activity it was present in 40 regions of Russia. The ideology of this hate group was described in Tesak's book Restruct (2012), where he specifically addresses homosexuality, stating that it “cannot be cured” and therefore needs to be exterminated:
Restrukt is heterosexual. In all his actions, he relies on the laws of nature, therefore he does not allow any tolerance for homosexuals. He hates them, like all other vices. However, this one, unlike some of the others, cannot be cured. There might be former smokers and former alcoholics, but there cannot be former faggots
Between 2010 and 2020 the research identified 205 cases of hate crimes committed by various homophobic hate groups. Moreover, the introduction of the "gay propaganda law" had a noticeable effect on this - the number of cases grew from 2 in 2010 to 38 in 2014. Many of those crimes are committed by Tesak, his followers or copycat movements.
Some notable cases
The crimes committed by the numerous hate groups follow the same scenario.
The presumed paedophile is subjected to a filmed interrogation in which the microphone is replaced by a dildo or a toilet brush. Tesak asks him to identify himself, to hold his passport up to the screen, to indicate his address, to say whether or not he is married and if he has children. After the naming and shaming stage, the questions are then aimed at making the presumed paedophile admit his intentions in going to the date and, more generally, his sexual preferences: ‘are you a paedophile or a paederast?’ “Congratulations, you have just completely ruined your life”, jokes Tesak while filming another of his prey lying motionless in his bathtub and being subjected to this pretence of an investigation. The presumed paedophile must often call close people in his life – his wife, children, brother or employer – and has to confess his guilt in front of the camera. His head is sometimes shaved or his hair dyed green. Homophobic and defamatory inscriptions are written on his forehead (‘Fuck LGBT’, or a rainbow flag). He is made to simulate fellatio with a dildo, and to prance around and sing silly songs. Sometimes he is filmed without any clothes on. He is slapped, shouted at and roughed up. The punishment known as ‘urotherapy’ is a common practice in all of Occupy Paedophilia’s videos and a hallmark of neo-Nazi vigilantes. It involves throwing urine in the prey’s face or making them drink it.
On 20 January 2013, six demonstrating LGBT activists in the provincial capital of Voronezh were attacked by over 500 people. The protest by these agitators, who appeared with Hitler salutes and hate slogans and threw snowballs, bottles and other objects at the demonstrators and then beat them up, was not registered. The police assigned 10 officers to this event. The employees of the nearby Adidas sports shop staged its mannequins with Hitler salutes in solidarity with the beating. At least three LGBT activists, including women, were injured and hospitalized during the resistance. On the same day, the author of the Petersburg law against 'homosexual propaganda', Vitaly Milonov, posted on his Twitter that "Voronezh is great".
Unlike in many western nations, LGBT persons in Russia are not protected by specific legal protections. Violent criminal acts carried out against LGBT people are prosecuted as criminal offences under Russian law, but the fact that these crimes are motivated by the sexual orientation or gender identity of the victim is not considered an aggravating factor when the court determines the sentence. Among the more vicious crimes that would qualify as hate crimes outside of Russia and are reported in the press would include the following;
- On 9 May 2013, after Victory Day parades in Volgograd, the body of a 23-year-old man was found tortured and murdered by three males who stated anti-homosexual motivations, even though family and friends state the victim had no behavior inclination.
- On 29 May 2013, the body of 38-year-old deputy director of Kamchatka airport Oleg Serdyuk (rus: Олег Сердюк) was found in his burned-out car, having been beaten and stabbed the previous day. Local authorities said the murder was motivated by homophobia. Three suspects (who were local residents) were tried and sentenced to prison terms of 9 to 12 years.
- From October 2013 – February 2014, anti-gay attacks targeting the LGBT community in Moscow were reported at Russia's largest gay nightclub Central Station, including gunfire and gas attacks. Several attacks and victim responses were documented in an ABC News Nightline special "Moscow is Burning". Several employees of the club subsequently left the country.
Transgender issues
In Tsarist Russia, young women would sometimes pose as men or act like tomboys. This was often tolerated among the educated middle classes, with the assumption that such behavior was asexual and would stop when the girl married. However, cross-dressing was widely seen as sexually immoral behavior, punishable by God promoted through the Church and later criminalized by the government.
In Soviet Russia, sex reassignment surgeries were first tried during the 1920s but became prohibited until the 1960s. Later they were performed by Irina Golubeva, an endocrinologist, authorized by psychiatrist Aron Belkin, who was the strongest Soviet advocate for transgender people until his death in 2003.
On 29 December 2014, Russia passed a road safety law, allowing the government to deny driver's licenses to people with several classes of mental disorders according to ICD-10. Class "F60-69 Disorders of adult personality and behaviour" includes "F64 Transsexualism" Russian and foreign critics perceived the law as a ban on transgender drivers: journalist Yelena Masyuk questioned the relevance of a person's transgender identity in regards to their ability to drive. On 14 January 2015, Russia's Health Ministry clarified the law, stating that it would only deny licenses to those with disorders that would impair their ability to drive safely, and explicitly stated that one's sexual orientation would not be considered a factor under the law, as it is not considered a psychiatric disorder.
In 2018, the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation developed a draft medical certificate that will help transgender people with confirming their gender identity on their legal documents. The Ministry of Justice approved this document on January 19, 2018. Up to this point, changes related to the gender change could only be made to the documents on the basis of a court decision. The Ministry of Health explained that, in accordance with the legislation, the registry offices make changes to the birth certificate if a mentioned certificate is submitted.
A certificate of gender change required to change person's gender in documents such as a birth certificate and passport, and can be obtained on the basis of a medical commission consisting of a psychiatrist, a sexologist and a medical psychologist. Neither sex-affirmative surgery nor hormone replacement therapy are required. The minimum duration of psychiatric observation is not specified in the final document of the Ministry of Health. On average, the commission lasts from 2 days to 1 month.
On 31 May 2023, a bill to legally ban individuals having any sex change and reassignments within Russia, annulling marriages with partners that have changed gender and banning said individuals from adopting children was introduced in the State Duma. On 19 July, the bill unanimously passed its three required readings in the State Duma (lower house of parliament). On 19 July, the upper house of parliament unanimously approved the bill as well.
On 24 July, the bill was signed into law by Russian president Vladimir Putin. State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said the number of gender reassignment surgeries in the U.S. has increased by 50 times over the past 10 years, and around 1.4% of all US teenagers aged between 13 and 17 identified themselves as transgender in 2022. He said “This is the path leading to the degradation of a nation”, stating that the newly adopted law was designed to avoid such a scenario
In July 2023, Russia enacted the "Law Banning Gender Transition in Russia" [ru], which includes the following provisions:
- doctors are prevented from offering gender-affirming healthcare and sexual reassignment surgery to any individual, regardless of age.
- changing gender markers on official documents is not allowed.
- people suffering from gender dysphoria have been deprived of the right to adopt children.
- a marriage by a trans individual with a person who shares the same birth sex as them is deemed null.
In January 2024, Meduza reported that Russia's MVD had begun bringing transgender people in for questioning. According to one transgender subject, he was questioned about where he got the medical certificate approving his transition, how much it cost, who was on the committee to approve it, and if he had attended any LGBT parties. After answering that he didn't remember the answer to the last question, he was told that they would keep bringing him in until he did. He was also told that if his approval certificate turned out to be invalid, that he would be forcibly detransitioned.
Propaganda bans
Regional laws
Between 2006 and 2013, ten regions enacted a ban on "propaganda of homosexualism" among minors. The laws of nine of them prescribe punishments of administrative sanctions and/or fines. The laws in some of the regions also forbid so-called "propaganda of bisexualism and transgenderism" to minors. As of May 2013 the regions that had enacted these various laws, and the years in which they had passed the laws, included: Ryazan Oblast (2006), Arkhangelsk Oblast (2011), Saint Petersburg (2012), Kostroma Oblast (2012), Magadan Oblast (2012), Novosibirsk Oblast (2012), Krasnodar Krai (2012), Samara Oblast (2012), Bashkortostan (2012), and Kaliningrad Oblast (February 2013). Then, Arkhangelsk (2013) and Saint Petersburg (2014) removed the law.
In 2019, Russia cut and censored gay sex scenes in the movie musical Rocketman based on the life of British singer Elton John, a decision he criticized, saying it is "cruelly unaccepting of the love between two people."
National laws
Main article: Russian anti-LGBT lawFederal laws passed on 29 June 2013 ban the distribution of "propaganda of non-traditional sexual relationships" among minors. Critics contend the law makes illegal holding any sort of public demonstration in favour of gay rights, speak in defence of LGBT rights, and distribute material related to LGBT culture, or to state that same-sex relationships are equal to heterosexual relationships. Additionally the laws have received international condemnation from human rights campaigners, and media outlets that even display of LGBT symbols, such as the rainbow flag, have resulted in arrests, and incited homophobic violence.
The law subjects Russian citizens found guilty to fines of up to 5,000 roubles and public officials to fines of up to 50,000 roubles. Organisations or businesses will be fined up to 1 million rubles and be forced to cease operations for up to 90 days. Foreigners may be arrested and detained for up to 15 days then deported, as well as fined up to 100,000 rubles. Russian citizens who have used the Internet or media to promote "non-traditional relations" will be fined up to 100,000 rubles.
The statute amended a law that is said to protect children from pornography and other "harmful information". One of the authors of the statute, Yelena Mizulina, who is the chair of the Duma's Committee on Family, Women, and Children and who has been described by some as a moral crusader, told lawmakers as the bill was being considered, "Traditional sexual relations are relations between a man and a woman.... These relations need special protection". Mizulina argued that a recent poll had shown 88% of the public were in support of the bill.
Commenting on the bill prior to its passage, President Putin said, during a visit to Amsterdam in April 2013, "I want everyone to understand that in Russia there are no infringements on sexual minorities' rights. They're people, just like everyone else, and they enjoy full rights and freedoms". He went on to say that he fully intended to sign the bill because the Russian people demanded it. As he put it, "Can you imagine an organization promoting pedophilia in Russia? I think people in many Russian regions would have started to take up arms.... The same is true for sexual minorities: I can hardly imagine same-sex marriages being allowed in Chechnya. Can you imagine it? It would have resulted in human casualties." Putin also mentioned that he was concerned about Russia's low birth-rate and that same-sex relationships do not produce children.
Critics say that the statute is written so broadly that it is in effect a complete ban on the gay rights movement and any public expression of LGBT culture.
In July 2013, four Dutch tourists were arrested for allegedly discussing gay rights with Russian youths. The four were arrested for allegedly spreading "propaganda of nontraditional relationships among the under-aged" after talking to teens at a camp in the northern city of Murmansk.
In March 2018 the Russian authorities forbade the biggest gay website Gay.ru because of "propaganda of nontraditional sexual relationships".
In December 2022, an amendment to the propaganda law was signed into law by Putin, extending it to all age groups. It also prohibits the distribution of materials that promote "pedophilia", or give minors a "desire to change their sex".
In February 2023, the Russian government introduced the AI program Oculus to scan the internet for illegal content, including “LGBT propaganda.”
In November 2023, Russia's Supreme Court declared the "international LGBT movement" an extremist organisation, following a Ministry of Justice lawsuit citing "various signs of an extremist orientation." This decision raised concerns for LGBTQ+ individuals and organisations in Russia, as it could lead to criminal prosecution for simple acts like displaying the rainbow flag, and was seen as part of President Putin's campaign to emphasize "Russian traditional values." The ruling has been criticized by human rights groups, including Amnesty International, as "shameful and absurd."
On 22 March 2024, the Supreme Court of Russia declared the "international LGBT social movement and its structural units,” to be a terrorist and extremist organization.
Domestic reactions
According to a survey conducted in June 2013 by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VTsIOM), at least 90% of those surveyed were in favor of the law.
Russian historian and human rights activist Lyudmila Alexeyeva has called it "a step toward the Middle Ages".
In January 2016, the State Duma rejected a proposal by the Communist Party to punish people who publicly express their homosexuality with fines and arrests.
International reactions and boycott
See also: LGBT rights protests surrounding the 2014 Winter OlympicsInternational human rights organisations and the governments of developed democracies around the world have strongly condemned this Russian law. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has condemned this Russian statute and another similar one in Moldova (which was later repealed) as discriminatory and has made clear that the Russian statute in question is a violation of international human rights law, including the right of gay children to receive proper information. The European Parliament has condemned Russia for homophobic discrimination and censorship and the Council of Europe has called on Russia to protect LGBT rights properly. The European Court of Human Rights had previously fined Russia for other infringements of LGBT rights. In 2012 the UN Human Rights Committee ruled that a similar statute in the Russia's Ryazan Region was discriminatory, infringed on freedom of expression, and was inadmissible under international law – a Russian court in Ryazan later agreed and struck it down. Some members of the gay community commenced a boycott of Russian goods, particularly Russian vodka.
Many Western celebrities and activists are openly opposed to the law and have encouraged a boycott of Russian products – notably Russian vodka – as well as a boycott of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games, which were scheduled to be held in Sochi, unless the Games were relocated out of Russia.
Political figures
United States President Barack Obama said that while he did not favour boycotting the Sochi Olympics over the law, "Nobody's more offended than me about some of the anti-gay and lesbian legislation that you've been seeing in Russia". Obama subsequently, in September 2013, met with Russian gay rights activists during a visit to St. Petersburg to attend a meeting of the G-20 nations' leaders. Obama said that he was proud of the work the activists were doing. His aides had said that Obama's opposition to the anti-gay propaganda law was one reason Obama had canceled a meeting previously planned to have been held with Russian President Putin during the trip.
The law was also condemned by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and German cabinet secretaries, British Prime Minister David Cameron, Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr, as well as Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird.
Summary table
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Notes | |
---|---|
Same-sex sexual activity legal | Legal since 1993 for men, never criminalised for women. De facto illegal in Chechnya, often punished with life in prison, torture, vigilante execution, vigilante attacks and forced labor camp internment. |
Equal age of consent (16) | (since 2003) |
Freedom of expression | (Federal ban on distribution of "propaganda" for "non-traditional" relationships and "sex change" to minors since 2013 and to adults since 2022; Public expression of LGBT identity banned since 2023) |
Anti-discrimination laws in employment | |
Anti-discrimination laws in the provision of goods and services | |
Anti-discrimination laws in all other areas (including indirect discrimination, hate speech) | |
Same-sex marriage(s) | (Constitutional ban since 2020) |
Recognition of same-sex couples | |
Commercial surrogacy for gay male couples | |
Adoption by a single LGBT person | Legal for single cisgender LGB people Illegal for trans people since 24.07.2023 |
Stepchild adoption by same-sex couples | |
Joint adoption by same-sex couples | |
Conversion therapy banned on minors | |
LGB people allowed to serve openly in the military |
|
Right to change legal gender | (Banned since 2023) |
Homosexuality declassified as an illness | (not classified as an illness from 1999 to 2022; new laws introduced on 1 July 2023) |
Access to IVF for lesbians | |
MSM allowed to donate blood | (Since 2008) |
See also
- Human rights in Russia
- LGBT rights in Asia
- LGBT rights in Europe
- LGBT culture in Russia
- LGBT history in Russia
- LGBT rights in Chechnya
- LGBT Human Rights Project Gayrussia.ru
- List of LGBT books banned in Russia
- Moscow Helsinki Watch Group
- Nikolay Alexeyev
- Recognition of same-sex unions in Russia
- Think of the children
- Vitaly Milonov
- Russian LGBT Network
Notes
- Chechen authorities have reportedly arrested, imprisoned and killed persons based on their perceived sexual orientation in anti-gay purges.
- In the 2020 amendments to the Constitution of Russia, marriage is defined as being between a man and woman, thereby banning same-sex marriage.
- Adoption is regulated by the Civil Procedure Code of Russia (Chapter 29); Family Code of Russia (Chapter 19); Federal Law On Acts of Civil Status (Chapter V). None of these documents contain any direct restriction or ban for homosexual people to adopt, though unmarried couples are not allowed to adopt children (Article 127.2 of the Family Code of Russia), and since same-sex marriage is not officially recognized, gay couples cannot adopt children together; nevertheless, single individuals can adopt (see also the Parent Relations section of the Russian LGBT Network 2009 Report). The Court makes the decision to allow or deny adoption considering many documents and testimonies, so it is unclear whether LGBTQ affiliation of the candidate adopter can be in fact an issue for a judge to make a negative decision.
- Bashkortostan is the only region where the law does not include any kind of administrative sanctions or fines.
- Kaliningrad Oblast's measure bans "propaganda of homosexualism" not only among minors, but among the population in general.
- The age of consent for homosexual acts was never specifically mentioned in the old Criminal Code of RSFSR, which was replaced with the new Criminal Code of Russia in 1996, and this new Code mentions the age of consent regardless of sexual orientation (although harsher penalties applies in case of an illicit same-sexual intercourse with a person younger than 16) in Article 134.
References
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This article incorporates text from a free content work. Licensed under CC-BY-SA IGO 3.0 (license statement/permission). Text taken from Out in the Open: Education sector responses to violence based on sexual orientation and gender identity/expression, 45, UNESCO, UNESCO. UNESCO.
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Further reading
See also: Bibliography of Russian history (1991-present)- Bubola, E. (5 December 2022), "Putin Signs Law Banning Expressions of L.G.B.T.Q. Identity in Russia", The New York Times, retrieved 7 January 2023
- Clark, F. (2014). "Discrimination against LGBT people triggers health concerns." Lancet, 383(9916), 500–502.
- Engle, Eric Allen (2013). "Gay Rights in Russia? Russia's Ban on Gay Pride Parades and the General Principle of Proportionality in International Law". Journal of Eurasian Law. 6 (2): 165–186. SSRN 2296803.
- Ilyushina, M., Gelman, M. (7 January 2023), "Moscow's war in Ukraine brought harsh tactics against gay Russians at home", The Washington Post, retrieved 7 January 2023
External links
- LGBT Human Rights Project GayRussia.Ru (en)(ru)
- Russian National Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transsexual Website (ru)
- Is HOMO what OMON sees in the mirror? – The eXile (en)
- LGBT History: Russia (en)
- State Duma rejected "sexual hatred" to be the reason for criminal prosecution 14 February 2004 (en) Archived 6 November 2013 at the Wayback Machine
- Bashkortostan Parliament's deputy proposes legitimating homosexual marriages 22 May 2004 (en) Archived 6 November 2013 at the Wayback Machine
- Gay and lesbian parents afraid to send kids to school in Russia, Xtra Magazine, 14 June 2014 (en)
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