Russia’s Supreme Court effectively outlaws LGBTQ+ activism in a landmark ruling
Russia’s Supreme Court effectively outlawed LGBTQ+ activism on Thursday, in the most drastic step against advocates of gay, lesbian and transgender rights in the increasingly conservative country.
Ruling in response to a lawsuit filed by the Justice Ministry, the court labeled what the suit called the LGBTQ+ “movement” operating in Russia as extremist and banned it.
Thursday's closed-door hearing lasted four hours. No one besides Justice Ministry representatives were allowed in, and there was no defendant. Journalists were taken into the courtroom only for the reading of the verdict by a judge who wore a face mask, apparently for health reasons.
The case was classified, and the ministry didn’t disclose any details or evidence, saying only that authorities had identified “signs and manifestations of an extremist nature” in the
