Russia’s ban on Pride events breaches human rights, court rules

Russia has violated LGBT+ people’s human rights by banning Pride events, the European Court of Human Rights has ruled on Tuesday (November 27).

The case was brought by Russian LGBT+ activist Nikolay Alexeyev and six others, who alleged that they have been systemically denied permissions to hold Pride events in cities across Russia. They listed 51 occasions on which permission for events were refused.

Authorities frequently cite the country’s 2013 gay ‘propaganda’ law, which bans “propaganda of non-traditional sexual orientations” in order to block the events, though the denials in the case dated from 2009 to 2014.

“The applicants suffered unjustified discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation.”

European Court of Human Rights

Ruling against Russia, the court found that “the ban on holding LGBT public assemblies… did not correspond to a pressing social need and was thus not necessary in a democratic society.”

The November 27 ruling also found that “the applicants suffered unjustified discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation, that that discrimination was incompatible with the standards of the Convention, and that they were denied an effective domestic remedy in respect of their complaints concerning a breach of their freedom of assembly.”

A view taken on August 1, 2010 shows the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. (JOHANNA LEGUERRE/AFP/Getty)

It added that the complainants “suffered unjustified discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation… incompatible with the standards of the Convention.”

The court ruled that the treatment violated Articles 11 and 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which protect freedom of assembly and freedom from discrimination.

Although Russia is a signatory to the European Convention on Human Rights, the international court has little power to enforce the ruling in Russia.

It declined to issue compensation in the case.