2023-11-18 12:01:38
by Marta Serafini
Putin’s propaganda once again presents itself as a bulwark of faith and traditions with an anti-Western function. The Supreme Court’s response is expected on November 30th
FROM OUR REPORTER
ODESSA – Belonging to the LGBT community and above all defending its values could constitute an accusation of subversive activity in Russia. The Moscow Ministry of Justice yesterday presented a motion to the Russian Supreme Court to classify the “international LGBT movement” as an “extremist” organization. The statement, published on the ministry’s website, states that the demands of the “movement” are in reality arguments created to “incite social and religious discord”. However, it is not said how the discord would be fueled nor is the term “international LGBT movement” defined.
The Supreme Court is expected to hear the case on November 30 and it is absolutely not out of the question that the motion will become law. On November 13, Russian Deputy Justice Minister Andrey Loginov presented a report on human rights in Russia at a meeting of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva — the same forum from which Moscow was suspended after the invasion of Ukraine — in which he stated that there is no discrimination against LGBT people in Russia. “In our country, discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity is prohibited, as is any other discrimination, both at the constitutional level and by law,” Loginov told the United Nations.
In Russia, in the context of the Russian invasion of western Ukraine, a law came into force on December 5th banning “LGBT propaganda”, according to which any positive or neutral description of “non-traditional relationships” in any format media coverage is considered “propaganda” which puts the founding values of the Russian community at risk, as constantly underlined by the Kremlin and the Orthodox Church faithful to Patriarch Kiril, a close ally of Vladimir Putin. A month after the law came into force, Roskomnadzor, the country’s media watchdog, had blocked more than 300 websites on the grounds that their content represented “LBT propaganda”. And not only that, measures have recently been passed that effectively prevent sex change both on a medical and personal level.
While awaiting the decision of the Russian Supreme Court, independent NGOs have already raised the alarm. As has already happened to various humanitarian and environmental organisations, including WWF and Greenpeace, included in the Kremlin’s blacklists and classified as foreign agents, it means they can no longer operate. Many of the NGOs operating in the Russian-speaking area fight to defend the rights of queer minorities in the Caucasus regions. First and foremost, Chechnya, where being openly gay leads to incarceration and where being suspected of belonging to the LGBT community puts you at risk of torture, forced disappearances and persecution. Finally, the accusation of extremism has been leveled at many organizations, activists and opponents in Russia to block their work, especially since the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine. Among those affected is Alexei Navalny, in prison since 2021.
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November 18, 2023 (modified November 18, 2023 | 10:51)
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