The Russian Supreme Court declared that “the international LGBT public movement” is extremist and banned its activities in the country. 

The Justice Ministry filed a request in November stating that the “international LGBT rights movement” be labeled extremist because it incites “social and religious hatred,” thereby violating federal law.

“We see that at various competitions in the Western countries in order to win something you have to either tell, write, or show something about the life of sexual minorities, transgenders, and transformers,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a conference the day the complaint was announced, according to the state-owned Russian news agency TASS. 

In a closed hearing on November 30, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of recognizing the “LGBT movement” as “extremist” and therefore banned its activities. The decision goes into effect immediately. 

Under Russian criminal law, participating in or financing an extremist organization is punishable by up to 12 years in prison. A person found guilty of displaying such groups’ symbols faces up to four years in prison for repeat offenses. 

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk condemned the decision, saying “no one should be jailed for doing human rights work or denied their human rights based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.”

“The authorities’ move apparently serves a dual purpose,” said Tanya Loksina, associate Europe and Central Asia at the Human Rights Watch organization. “It is meant to increase the scapegoating of LGBT people to appeal to the Kremlin’s conservative supporters before the March 2024 presidential vote and to paralyze the work of rights groups countering discrimination and supporting LGBT people.”

Russia passed legislation in 2022 that banned “propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations,” expanding upon a 2013 law that banned depictions of homosexuality among minors. This year, Russia banned surgeries and hormone treatments related to gender transition. 

“We are the only European country that opposes all that is happening in the States, in Europe and does everything to save families and traditional values,” Speaker of the Duma Vyacheslav Volodin said. “And we need to understand that there won’t be any future if we don’t adopt the law, if we don’t ban gender change.”