In Moscow, the organizer of the OpenArt festival canceled the event after a warning from the prosecutor's office about the inadmissibility of violations of legislation on extremism and “LGBT propaganda.” He himself told Mediazona about this.
In addition, the prosecutor's office warned the employees of the festival, which was supposed to take place from October 20 to 22, about liability under the article on violation of the right to freedom of conscience and religion (Article 148 of the Criminal Code). The warning, dated October 18, was signed by the prosecutor for the Central Administrative District of Moscow, Boris Grigoriev. The day before, the RKN blocked the festival website.
The event organizer emphasized that the information in the warning “does not correspond to reality and is based on guesses and unreliable facts.” According to him, fake pages appeared on social networks, which “published provocative information about LGBT+ propaganda at the festival.”
The OpenArt website talked about the concept of the festival: “"Red Book: Russia 2023" reflects a situation in which not only some social groups have become endangered species in Russia, but also the simplest things that until recently seemed familiar and natural in our everyday life.”
The program included a show a film about directors in modern cinema, a lecture by a psychologist, a master class on weaving jewelry called “Non-binary bachelorette party” and a discussion of the novel about eating disorders “Look at You” by writer Ekaterina Nenakhova.
When news about the cancellation of the festival appeared in the media, St. Petersburg activist and professional informer Timur Bulatov congratulated in his Telegram channel “everyone who took part in the pressure on the Fem/LGBT festival of liberals and perverts Open Art.”
The festival organizer added that there were several denunciations. As the “Bloody Lady” telegram channel wrote, one of the appeals to the prosecutor’s office was sent by a member of the “Russian Community”, Alexander Alexandrov.
The festival organizer added that harassment on social networks began after the announcement of the performance of photographer and director Seva Galkin, the author short films “Fans” about two skinheads who hunt gays while being in a romantic relationship with each other.
“I think it all started when we published the announcement that Seva Galkin would be participating in us — he is open gay, but being openly gay is not yet prohibited in our country, thank God. He films 18+ content. But in the exhibition that we were supposed to have, there is no LGBT component,” said Mediazona’s interlocutor.