The Ministry of Justice filed a lawsuit in the Supreme Court to recognize LGBT people as an “extremist organization.” According to a press release from officials, the first meeting is scheduled for November 30.
“In the activities of the LGBT movement operating on the territory of the Russian Federation, <…> various signs and manifestations of an extremist orientation have been identified, including incitement of social and religious hatred,” the Ministry of Justice states. -publish-context-cite__image» alt=»1″ />Secret history 395. How, before the adoption of the transphobic law, philanthropists and activists helped pass the medical examination
The Ministry of Justice’s lawsuit was preceded by the adoption of two repressive laws against LGBT people. In December 2022, the law on “LGBT propaganda” was significantly expanded, extending censorship to content not only for teenagers, but also for adults. In the summer of 2023, transgender transition was banned in Russia — both changing the gender marker in documents and medical interventions related to the transition.
The Justice Department, in a press release about the lawsuit, calls LGBT people an “international social movement.” What exactly is meant by this is unknown.
Russian courts have previously banned subcultures and groups of people that do not have a single association, clear structure or political ideology. Thus, Columbine, or school shootings, were recognized as a “terrorist organization,” and AUE, or “Prisoner Criminal Unity,” was recognized as an “extremist organization.”
Because of this, for example, journalists face a fine if they do not mention their status when mentioning Columbine, and Internet users face fines and arrests for pictures that police and courts consider “symbols” of prohibited movements. Former and current prisoners are being persecuted under the same article because of tattoos, including eight-pointed stars.
The movement ban allows security forces to persecute people they classify as members of these groups as “extremist” and “terrorist” articles of the Criminal Code. Prisoners are often accused of creating AUE “cells” in their colonies (282.2 of the Criminal Code). There are also several cases where convicts are charged with “propaganda of extremism” among cellmates, for example, due to reading letters — “thieves’ runs” (Article 280 of the Criminal Code).
The Criminal Code also allows for the initiation of cases for the publication of symbols of prohibited structures (Article 282.4 of the Criminal Code), if a person has previously been persecuted under a similar administrative article (20.3 of the Administrative Code), or for donations to “extremist organizations” (Article 282.3 of the Criminal Code)