Russian woman fined for ‘LGBT propaganda’ over five-year-old rainbow flag social media posts

A woman in Russia has reportedly been fined under the country’s anti-LGBTQ+ propaganda law for five-year-old posts on social media of rainbow flag images.

As reported by independent outlet Novaya Gazeta Europe, known for its critical coverage of the Russian government, a court in the city of Cherkessk in the Karachay-Cherkessia region heard the unnamed woman shared “symbols of the extremist LGBT community” under a pseudonym.

The outlet established the posts, shared to social media site VK, included an image of two women kissing.

The woman, whose name was not released publicly, pleaded guilty and expressed remorse and requested leniency, reportedly telling court officials she had not used the account for five years.

She was issued with a fine of 1,000 rubles ($11.94 / £8.94).

In November 2023, Russia’s Supreme Court declared it would define the “international public LGBT movement” – which is not a specific, organised group – as “extremist”, saying “signs and manifestations” by LGBTQ+ people were of an “extremist nature” and which led to “incitement of social and religious discord”.

The law came into effect in January 2024 and in essence made any and all LGBTQ+ activism illegal in Russia.

Since it came into force, there have been countless instances of censorship and numerous arrests, fines and prison sentences – with some accused of spreading so-called queer propaganda dying in custody.

In recent months, bar staff and venue owners at LGBTQ+ spaces have been jailed, more than 50 club-goers have been detained whilst attending queer club nights, language-learning app Duolingo was forced to remove inclusive content, Apple was fined millions of roubles for unknown reasons, children’s cartoon My Little Pony has been labelled 18+, the Elton John AIDS Foundation was banned for being “undesirable” and a gay student was expelled from university for posting make-up videos.

In January of this year, a man was fined for joking that he ‘started’ the international LGBTQ+ rights movement whilst a month earlier, in December, another man who was accused of running an LGBTQ+ travel agency was found dead in his cell.

Following this, in February, reports surfaced that Russia is  “creating a database of LGBTQ+ citizens” to register and track queer people.

Russia’s Supreme Court ruling came after a years-long, increasing crackdown on the LGBTQ+ community in the country,