Russiaās crackdown on LGBTQIA+ people is also catching their opponents. At least five people who published homophobic content have been fined or otherwise punished under legislation banning so-called LGBTQIA+ propaganda or the āinternational LGBT movementā. Independent Russian news outlet Mediazona has documented the cases, highlighting how authorities can penalise social media posts without properly considering their context.
In November 2023, The Russian Federationās Supreme Court declared the supposedly existing āinternational LGBT movementā an extremist organisation. Since then, the designation has been used as the basis for at least 14 criminal investigations and hundreds of administrative cases.
Mediazona identified five cases in which people were punished for posts intended to criticise or mock the LGBTQIA+ community rather than promote its rights.
Homophobic posts mistaken for LGBTQIA+ propaganda
Vera Makeyeva, a pensioner from Kurgan who had welcomed the ban on the so-called āLGBT movementā, was fined 1,500 roubles (ā¬16) six months later over old social media reposts containing homophobic material and a rainbow flag.
“Itās my own fault. I hadnāt cleaned up my photo albums in 13 years. Some people were interested enough to go through them,” she told Mediazona.
Pyotr Voronin, from Pyatigorsk, received a one-day prison sentence over an image featuring the presidents of Ukraine and France alongside a swastika and a rainbow flag. Both symbols are classified as extremist in Russia. Voronin said he had intended to mock Ukraine and France, not promote LGBTQIA+ rights.
He blamed an automated system used by the security services to monitor online communications. “I asked [in court], āSo maybe I should officially apologise to Zelensky?ā Basically, the AI that reads our messages online is a complete idiot, and we mean nothing to it,” he said.
Vladimir Sugakov, a pensioner from the Kemerovo region, was fined 100,000 roubles (ā¬1,000) for LGBTQIA+ propaganda over homophobic posts. These included a slideshow of Pride photographs accompanied by a song by Russian singer Sergei Trofimov. Its title, ‘Petushki‘, refers to a derogatory prison slang term for gay men.
Sugakov said the video was intended to criticise the LGBTQIA+ community, but police and the court did not examine that context, according to Mediazona. He decided not to appeal, saying he was not an “idiot” who would “take on the system”.
A joke about neo-Nazis leads to a fine
A Moscow resident was fined 100,000 roubles (ā¬1,000) over a video entitled ‘Nazi Initiation‘. It showed a young man shaving his head, dressing like a neo-Nazi skinhead and having sex with two similarly dressed men. The video ended with a swastika and the message “Join our ranks!!!”.
The man told the court he had posted the video as a joke. The court nevertheless considered it LGBTQIA+ propaganda.
The fifth case concerns Father Grigory, also known as Grzegorz ZwoliÅski, a Polish Catholic priest who lived in Kirov for 24 years. He had repeatedly criticised Archbishop Paolo Pezzi, head of the Catholic Archdiocese of Moscow, for supporting the LGBTQIA+ community.
To draw attention to his criticism, the priest added a rainbow flag to one of his posts about the archbishop. He was fined 1,000 roubles (ā¬10). The penalty subsequently led to the revocation of his Russian residence permit and a ban on re-entering the country. He returned to Poland, where he now writes that the “rainbow church” had taken revenge on him.
Rainbow symbols under scrutiny
The five cases illustrate how Russia’s anti-LGBTQIA+ legislation can be applied without adequately considering the intention behind a publication. A rainbow flag, whether used in support of the community, in criticism or as satire, can attract the attention of law enforcement.
The Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling has provided authorities with a legal basis for prosecuting expressions associated with LGBTQIA+ people and organisations. Mediazona’s findings show that the resulting restrictions can also ensnare people who oppose the community.
