Founder of Russian LGBT website convicted under propaganda law

Russian judge on Friday convicted the founder of a website for LGBT youth of violating the country’s law that bans the promotion of so-called gay propaganda to minors.  Lyudmila Pedan, a judge in the city of Nizhny Tagil, found Yelena Klimova, founder of the Children 404 Project, of violating the controversial law that President Vladimir Putin signed

Despite obstacles, Russian queerfest opened

Queer Festival of Russia: Celebrating Identities “QueerFest”, the queer pride event of Russia, opened in St. Petersburg with a bang. Over 160 people made it, despite the last minute change of venues, attacks by provocateurs, and insults by the usual guest – Vitaly Milonov. The organizers learned of the planned actions to foil the event

Crimea ‘does not need gays’, says most senior politician

De facto Crimean leader Sergei Aksyonov made the comments yesterday speaking to Interfax and Itar-Tass during a government session.He said: “We in Crimea do not need such people.”Continuing to say what would happen if the LGBT community attempted to hold a public gathering, he said: “Our police and self-defence forces will react immediately and in

Russia: Pride rally held in St. Petersburg without violence

Russian news sources report that a peaceful Pride parade took place in St Petersburg on Sunday July 27, despite organisers being told to hold the event on a landfill site.The Moscow and St. Petersburg Times reported some two dozen LGBT activists rallied in the Field of Mars square on Sunday to celebrate gay pride. QueerRussia.com reports that

Despite the Russian city of St Petersburg repealing its city-wide ban on so-called ‘propaganda of homosexuality to minors,’ officials are still working to frustrate the work of LGBTI activists in the city. Organizers had hoped to hold an LGBTI Pride rally this Saturday, however by Monday this week city officials had rejected every location for

On April 14, the Pride March planned for April 22-23 was banned by the authorities of Sebastol. This is the first time in which the anti-proaganda law, signed by Vladimir Putin last June, has been imposed on the Crimean LGBT* community. Following the application of the law, Sebastopol authorities viewed the Pride March as an

New Russian bill will control sex reassignment surgeries

A bill aimed at controlling plastic surgery, including sex reassignment surgery (SRS), was developed by members of Russian Communist Party, Nezavisimaya Gazeta reports. The authors call for the creation of a registry of people who changed their appearance, including perceived gender, and other parts of the body. The registry may contain photos of the person before and

Parliamentarian Petras Gražulis horrified his European colleagues and made Lithuanians feel embarrassed. While attending the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe for the first time, he started openly praising Russia’s law banning “propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations” among minors. As journalists announced, P. Gražulis was encouraging all European countries to follow the Russian example.

Gay Russian protester arrested for unfurling rainbow flag at Olympic torch relay

Pavel Lebedev, of Voronezh, which is 560 miles north of Sochi, unfurled the rainbow flag as the torch passed through his hometown. The Sochi Winter Olympics will begin on 7 February and have already caused an international outcry as Russian President Vladimir Putin in June signed a bill into law banning the “promotion of non-traditional

Putin confirms that limited protest zones will be set up at Sochi

Russian authorities have confirmed that special protest zones will be set up at the Sochi Winter Olympics. In the face of heavy criticism of Russia’s anti-gay law, International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach sought to diffuse the situation with an announcement in December. This followed a decree, signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in August,