Russia and the Kremlin propose to ban the LGBT movement: “extremist” – Corriere.it

From our correspondent
Odessa – Belonging to the LGBT community can be, above all, defending its values Accusations of subversive activity in Russia. Yesterday, the Ministry of Justice in Moscow submitted a request to the Russian Supreme Court to classify the “International LGBT Movement” as an “extremist” organization. The statement published on the ministry’s website said that the “movement’s” demands are in fact pretexts created “to stir up social and religious strife.” However, it was not stated how the dispute would be fueled and the term “international LGBT movement” was not defined.

The Supreme Court is expected to hear the case on November 30, and it is not at all unlikely that this proposal could become law. On November 13, Russian Deputy Minister of Justice Andrei Loginov Report on human rights in Russia to the UN Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva – the same forum whose attendance in Moscow was suspended after the invasion of Ukraine – and at which he stated that there is no discrimination against gay people in Russia. Loginov told the United Nations: “In our country, discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity is prohibited, as is the case with any other discrimination, whether at the constitutional level or under the law.”

Pending the Russian Supreme Court’s decision, independent NGOs have already sounded the alarm. As has already happened to several humanitarian and environmental organisations, including WWF and Greenpeace, which are blacklisted by the Kremlin and classified as foreign agents, this means they can no longer operate. Many NGOs working in the Russian-speaking region struggle to defend the rights of LGBT minorities in the Caucasus regions. On the head, lIn Chechnya, being openly gay leads to imprisonment Where suspicion of belonging to the LGBT community exposes you to the risk of torture, enforced disappearance and persecution. Finally, many organizations, activists and opponents in Russia have been accused of extremism to obstruct their work, especially since the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine. Among those affected is Alexei Navalny, who has been imprisoned since 2021.