Russian LGBT Network shuts down after ‘extremism’ ruling makes its work ‘impossible’
Gay rights activists march in St. Petersburg in May 2013 (Image: Getty Images, stock)
The Russian LGBT Network has announced it is shutting down after a St Petersburg court designated the group an “extremist” organisation, saying the ruling makes public operations too risky for staff, supporters and people seeking help. The group confirmed the decision in a statement on Telegram.
A St Petersburg court in April declared the Russian LGBT Network “extremist” following a lawsuit by Russia’s Justice Ministry. The Russian LGBT Network said the label makes its previous public format of work impossible because “any connection to the organisation may create additional risks for the people we seek to support and protect”.
In a statement posted to its Facebook page statement, the organisation said: “For many years, Russian LGBT Network brought together initiatives and activists and supported queer people across the country,” adding that its “extremist” status had made continuing in the same way “impossible”.
The group said it decided to close after assessing the risks. “We made this decision after a serious risk assessment,” it said. “Continuing our public work could endanger those who took part in the organisation’s activities, supported it, or received help from it. We can’t control the repressive environment, but we can do everything possible to avoid creating additional risks for people. People’s safety comes first,” it added.
Russia’s expanding ‘extremism’ crackdown
The Russian LGBT Network was created in 2006, with Russia’s Supreme Court ruling in 2023 the so-called “international LGBT movement” was an extremist organisation and banning it, a move that has been widely seen as expanding the state’s ability to prosecute LGBTQ+ visibility and organising, including under new extremism laws.
Similarly, journalists at Parni+, the largest Russian-language LGBTQ+ news site, have been forced into exile under the country’s laws.
What the closure means for LGBTQ+ support
The Russian LGBT Network has been widely recognised internationally as a key hub for LGBTQ+ rights advocacy and crisis support in Russia, including coordinating assistance across regions. The organisation has been associated in global media with efforts to help LGBTQ+ people flee persecution in Chechnya during the late 2010s, as Russia’s legal and political environment has tightened sharply since the 2013 ‘LGBT propaganda’ law as part of the years-long destruction of LGBTQ+ rights.
Human Rights Watch said Russian courts in seven regions, between March and May, banned nine LGBTQ groups after deeming them “extremist”, including the Russian LGBT Network.
HRW’s Europe and Central Asia director Hugh Williamson said authorities are “intensifying their criminalisation” of those providing support to LGBT people, adding: “Authorities should vacate all court decisions and criminal convictions based on these spurious ‘extremism’ charges.”
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