Russian LGBTQ+ Club Staff Arrested for Alleged Extremist Ties
In the Russian city of Orenburg, two employees of an LGBTQ+ establishment called Pose have been apprehended on suspicion of affiliating with an extremist organization. This marks the inaugural criminal case of its nature subsequent to the prohibition of the so-called “international LGBT movement” by Russia’s Supreme Court in November of the prior year. If convicted, the accused could potentially face a decade of imprisonment.
The court proceedings were conducted in secrecy, and the art director, Alexander Klimov, along with the administrator, Diana Kamilyanova, will remain in custody until May 18. According to the court, the defendants are alleged to have collaborated with a group of individuals who share their sentiments and participate in the activities of the aforementioned international public association supporting LGBTQ+ rights.
The police, acting upon a request from the local prosecutor, raided the club in early March, accompanied by members of a nationalist faction called the “Russian Community.” As per a statement on the nationalist group’s platform, the items confiscated during the operation included various feminine attire such as stage costumes, wigs, and prosthetic breasts.
These raids on LGBTQ+ venues have become prevalent across Russia since the Supreme Court’s ruling last year. Legal representative Ksenia Mikhailova from the Russian LGBT group “Coming Out” expressed surprise at the Orenburg case, suggesting it might signal a shift in authorities’ treatment of instances related to LGBTQ+ activism from administrative to criminal offenses.
This case potentially establishes a precedent for the application of the law concerning LGBTQ+ individuals in Russia, indicative of an escalating crackdown on LGBTQ+ rights in the nation. The categorization of the “international LGBT movement” as extremist has extended to symbols like the rainbow flag, now viewed as emblematic of extremism.
Illustrating the heightened scrutiny, a woman in Nizhny Novgorod was detained briefly last month for sporting earrings adorned with rainbow symbols. In recent years, Russia’s LGBTQ+ community has encountered mounting governmental pressure, evident in the 2013 legislation banning the “propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations” among minors and the subsequent prohibition of gender reassignment surgery last July. President Vladimir Putin has framed LGBTQ+ activism as an assault by Western forces on “traditional Russian values.”
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