{"id":25172,"date":"2022-05-18T14:48:36","date_gmt":"2022-05-18T11:48:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adcmemorial.org\/?p=25172"},"modified":"2022-05-18T14:53:03","modified_gmt":"2022-05-18T11:53:03","slug":"persecution-of-lgbti-2021-22","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adcmemorial.org\/en\/articles\/persecution-of-lgbti-2021-22\/","title":{"rendered":"Persecution of LGBTI+ people in Russia: Increasing repressions 2021-2022"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n

It has been almost a decade since the repressive laws on \u201cforeign agents\u201d (2012) and \u201cgay propaganda\u201d (2013) were adopted. At the time of their adoption, defenders of the rights of LGBTI+ people were at the forefront of Russia\u2019s human rights movement and became one of the first targets of state persecution. With the increase in political repressions came an increase in homophobia propagated by the authorities. Now we can assess how political repressions against LGBTI+ organizations and activists have been reflected in public opinion, state practices, and the situation of the most vulnerable LGBTI+ individuals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2013, as preparations for the \u201cgay propaganda\u201d law were underway, Levada Center sociologist Aleksey Levison wrote<\/a> the following about the results of a poll that identified a high level of homophobia in Russian society:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat is currently being presented as a fight against propaganda is actually a fight against freedom. Not the freedom for same-sex relationships and marriage \u2013 that affects just a small percentage of people living in Russia \u2013 and not even the freedom to come out into public space, but the freedom of all people to express their opinion, their position in this space<\/strong>….Homophobia always goes hand in hand with fascism. The heinous example of Hitler\u2019s Germany showed very clearly what we should never have forgotten: What starts with wiping out a minority ends with disaster for all of humankind.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

A poll<\/a> conducted by the Levada Center in October 2021 showed a heightening polarization of public opinion in regard to LGBTI+ people. While the number of people who would deny adults the right to enter into a consensual same-sex relationship rose to 69% (60% in 2013), the number of people who recognize this right increased slightly, from 23% in 2013 to 25% in 2021. Opinions were also polarized in relation to equal rights for LGBTI+ people: There was significant growth in the number of people opposing equal rights (59% versus 47% in 2013), while the number of supporters of equal rights fell (33% versus 39% in 2013). In terms of personal attitudes toward LGBTI+ people, there was an increase in neutrality and friendliness (to 36%, from 29% in 2013) and a drop in negative attitudes (to 50%, from 68% in 2013), although there was an increase in what Aleksey Levinson called \u201ccollective phobias\u201d (feelings of \u201crepulsion and fear\u201d rose from 26% to 38%).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Political persecution: recognition as “foreign agents,” forced liquidation of organizations, forced emigration<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The increase in neutrality at a personal level coupled with denial of equal treatment politically and heightened unconscious fears are most likely the result of the fact that the persecution of LGBTI+ people has predominated on the political plane \u2013 in terms of laws (the creation of new lists of \u201cforeign agents\u201d) and their application (censorship, inclusion in lists, liquidation of organizations). The chronology of surging repressions in 2021-2022 given below lists organizations that work to protect LGBTI+ rights and individual activists who were deemed foreign agents for various reasons, some not for the first time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

May 20, 2021,<\/em><\/strong> Phoenix Plus, an HIV service, and the administrator of the Parni+ [Guys+] website were fined<\/a> 300,000 rubles. This organization was charged with violating the first clause of Article 19.34 of Russia\u2019s Administrative Offenses Code<\/a> (on failure to independently register as a \u201cforeign agent\u201d). NGO. Founder and director Yevgeny Pisemsky:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have been living with HIV for 20 years and have devoted 16 of those years to making sure people with HIV receive assistance, and to reducing the number of new infections as much as possible. Over the years of our work, we have helped tens of thousands of people, but the Ministry of Justice\u2019s illegal decision has basically forced us to close down, since we cannot pay such enormous fines.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

On November 8, 2021, <\/strong><\/em>the interregional social movement Russian LGBT Network was added to the registry of unregistered public associations performing the functions of a foreign agent by the Ministry of Justice. The ministry decided that calling on people to sign a petition to revoke the law on \u201cforeign agents,\u201d publishing the book From Dawn to Dusk: Mama, Papa and the Kids<\/a>, and distributing the results of a survey monitoring discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity amounted to political activities. On the same day, Max Olenichev, the legal adviser to Russian LGBT Network and the advocacy group Coming Out, was added to the list of foreign agents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On November 12, 2021,<\/em><\/strong> Igor Kochetkov<\/a>, a historian, human rights defender, blogger and founder of Russian LGBT Network, was added to the registry of foreign media outlets performing the functions of a foreign agent:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c… I am a \u2018foreign agent\u2019 three times over…. I was the director of the charitable foundation Sfera, which was deemed a \u201cforeign agent\u201d in 2016, then I recently became one again as the founder of the Russian LGBT Network, and now I\u2019ve become one as an individual.<\/p>

And I am now going to say something that is very unpopular with my colleagues: Yes, we are engaged in political activities, all joking aside. This is politics. I just explained why sexuality is politics. And when we speak about sexual freedom, this is a political question, which is where politics ultimately begins.<\/p>

When we are evacuating gay Chechens, when we say that the Chechen government committed crimes against humanity and the Russia federal government covered this up for them, are we not engaged in political activity? Well, I\u2019m sorry to say it, but we have to admit that we are. Yes, we are engaged in politics, and yes, we receive foreign financing, which I am also not ashamed of. And moreover, I can assert that no self-respecting human rights organization should receive state funding, at least from the state where it operates. Because the state is our natural opponent, and we will have a conflict of interest if we take money from this state and use it to protect people from it.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On December 17, 2021, <\/strong><\/em>the Far Eastern social movement Mayak [Lighthouse] was added to the registry of unregistered public associations performing the functions of a foreign agent by the Ministry of Justice. This organization provides legal and socioeconomic assistance to LGBTI+ people and women who are the victims of violence in Russia\u2019s Far East. Mayak director Regina Dzugkoyeva said <\/a>:\u2800<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI understood that this would happen to us, even though I was hoping for common sense to prevail. We still don\u2019t know why exactly we were deemed a foreign agent. Maybe we will find out later. But right now anyone could become a foreign agent and any activity at all could be considered political activity.<\/p>

For me it\u2019s madness to call an organization that helps your very own citizens a foreign agent. They help women suffering from domestic violence. They save Russian citizens \u2013 homosexual, bisexual, transgender, but still Russian citizens \u2013 and they suddenly end up foreign agents.<\/p>

If I had wanted to get rid of foreign financing, I would probably have done that back when all this was starting. But I believe there is no foreign or non-foreign financing in our work. There is a problem: Women being beaten in their families. There are LGBTI+ people facing violence. And it doesn\u2019t matter one bit to me which foundation is giving me money to save these people. Our organization gets financing where it can. If the state doesn\u2019t help, then of course I\u2019m going to look for help from any other source I can find.<\/p>

We are planning to continue our work, to carry out the same functions that we carried out before.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

On December 23, 2021, <\/strong><\/em>Coming Out and the advocacy group Reverse were added<\/a> to the registry of unregistered public associations performing the functions of a foreign agent by the Ministry of Justice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On April 15, 2022,<\/em><\/strong> the following people were added to the registry of \u201cforeign agent\u201d media outlets :<\/p>\n\n\n\n