Russia Intensifies Anti-LGBTQ+ Crackdown with Supreme Court Ruling

Following the court's decision, security forces raid LGBTQ+ venues across Moscow, leading to widespread closures and international condemnation.

Russia's Supreme Court has expanded the crackdown on LGBTQ+ rights, effectively banning all LGBTQ+ activism in the country by deeming the 'international LGBT movement' as an 'extremist organization'.
Following the ruling, security forces launched raids on gay bars and nightclubs across Moscow, under the pretext of routine drug raids, causing several LGBTQ+ establishments to shut down operations.
The ruling builds upon existing laws that target sexual minorities, including a 2013 law that banned the promotion of LGBTQ+ relationships or rights to Russians aged 18 or younger, and a 2020 law that banned LGBTQ+ 'propaganda'.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has justified these measures as efforts to protect 'traditional family values' and has often framed the West's acceptance of LGBTQ+ rights as a threat to these values.
International rights groups and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights have condemned the ruling, stating that it exposes human rights defenders and anyone standing up for the human rights of LGBT people to being labelled as 'extremist' – a term that has serious social and criminal ramifications in Russia.