According to state media reports on Friday, Russia has included the “LGBT movement” in a catalogue of extremist and terrorist organisations.

This action aligns with a decision made by Russia’s Supreme Court in November, which ruled that LGBT activists should be classified as extremists—a move that elicited concerns from representatives of gay and transgender communities who feared potential arrests and legal actions.

The list, managed by Rosfinmonitoring, encompasses over 14,000 individuals and entities labeled as extremists and terrorists, granting the agency authority to freeze their bank accounts.

Included in this roster are diverse entities ranging from Al Qaeda to prominent entities such as U.S. tech conglomerate Meta and affiliates of the late Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny.

The recent addition specifically targets the “international LGBT social movement and its structural units,” as reported by the state news agency RIA.

Under the tenure of President Vladimir Putin, Russia has undergone a perceptible shift towards what is depicted as traditional family values, diverging from what is perceived as Western decadence.

Over the past decade, the country has imposed increasingly stringent regulations on the expression of sexual orientations and gender identities.

This tightening of restrictions reflects Russia’s broader societal stance on issues related to sexuality and gender identity.

Main Image: By Alexei Kouprianov, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=58464582

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