3.7. LGBTIQ persons
Since February 2022, Russian authorities have intensified the crackdown on LGBTIQ people495 under the pretext of promoting ‘traditional values.’496 According to OVD-Info, 2024 was ‘a year of systemic repression against the LGBTIQ+ community in Russia,’ with ‘an escalation of criminal, administrative and legislative measures aimed at suppressing the rights and freedoms of LGBTQ+ people’.497 Overall, LGBTIQ culture and activism ‘have been forced underground.’498 In its 2025 ranking, ILGA-Europe, which ranks European countries on their respective legal and policy practices for LGBTIQ people, placed Russia on the last position out of 49 countries.499 As noted by a lawyer specialising in LGBTIQ issues and working for several Russia-based NGOs, the current situation of LGBTIQ people in Russia is shaped by the existing legislation and continues deteriorating every month.500
- 495
New York Times (The), A Prison Death Highlights an L.G.B.T.Q. Crackdown in Russia, 1 April 2025, url; Shashkov, A., How Far Will Russia’s Wartime Anti-LGBTQ+ Campaign Go?, Carnegie Politika, 25 June 2025, url; Lawyer specialising in LGBTIQ issues, Online interview with EUAA, 26 September 2025
- 496
Moscow Times (The), In Russia, Being Openly Gay Is ‘Extremist.’ But Some People Bend the Rules, 12 June 2025, url
- 497
OVD-Info, Repression in Russia in 2024: OVD-Info Overview, 12 January 2025, url
- 498
Moscow Times (The), In Russia, Being Openly Gay Is ‘Extremist.’ But Some People Bend the Rules, 12 June 2025, url
- 499
ILGA-Europe, Rainbow Map 2025, 14 May 2025, url
- 500
Lawyer specialising in LGBTIQ issues, Online interview with EUAA, 26 September 2025