At that time, Mikhail lived openly, with no significant overt hostility from the general public. However, over the past few years, the situation has changed dramatically.
“Issues began to arise within the club industry – there were restrictions on the number of Ukrainian performers and bans on discussing topics related to the LGBT community. Everyday life was marred by perpetual anxiety,” he recounted.
The final straw came when the police targeted Mikhail’s workplace for a raid.
“I was apprehended in raids multiple times, but the last one was the most brutal and horrific. Following that, I underwent two interrogations lasting around eight or nine hours each, with relentless psychological pressure. I eventually had to leave the country to safeguard my freedom,” he recalled.
Not only is Russia engaged in conflict with Ukraine, but it’s also targeting what it considers to be internal enemies. The persecution of the LGBTQ community, organizations, and individuals has intensified in recent years as the Kremlin strives to uphold “traditional values.”
Before 2022, the majority of abuses against the LGBTQ community in Russia primarily involved everyday and institutional discrimination rather than direct aggression, as noted by a monitoring program coordinator at the Russian NGO Sphere.
Following 2022 amendments to the “gay propaganda” ban, as well as a ban on gender transition and designation of the “international LGBT movement” as “extremist” in 2023, the authorities are now responsible for at least two-thirds of these abuses.
Historically, Russia, as part of the Soviet Union, was among the first countries to decriminalize homosexuality in 1917. However, by the 1930s under Joseph Stalin, homosexuality was seen as a threat to Soviet society, making it punishable by imprisonment. This was compounded by the belief that it was a mental illness, leading to forced confinement of gays and lesbians in asylums.
A new wave of persecution emerged in the 2010s with laws to prevent “gay propaganda,” supposedly to protect children. The government portrays the fight for LGBTQ rights as a foreign agenda undermining Russia’s traditional family values.
The authorities equate pedophilia with ‘non-traditional’ orientations, which is evident from the Russian Judicial Department’s 2023 statistics, where data for sodomy, pedophilia, and propaganda are presented together. Noting that no formal international LGBT movement organization exists, the vagueness of this classification casts a wide net.
“Employees of any organization [assisting the rights of the LGBTQ] risk being accused of participating or organizing extremist activities, potentially leading to political detainments and decade-long prison terms,” stated the Sphere’s communication head.
“Because of this, many groups have halted their operations in the country. Some organizations have relocated employees abroad to continue their work, leaving few remaining queers groups within Russia that aren’t compelled to operate in secrecy,” they added.
These actions extend to both public queer activities and the private lives of individuals. In December, Andrei Kotov, director of the Men Travel agency in Moscow, was arrested under charges of organizing “extremist” activities and later found dead in his cell.
The independent Russian news site Meduza recently claimed that authorities are possibly compiling data from raids on gay parties and medical records of trans individuals to create a database of the LGBTQ community.
The real purpose of such a database is unclear, but the Russian police already maintain a similar database for drug addicts, purportedly to identify targets for entrapping or planting evidence.
“The amassed data could be employed to launch a large-scale criminal case on charges of extremism against the non-existent ‘International LGBT-movement,’ which supposedly has cells across numerous regions of Russia,” noted Irina, Sphere’s advocacy director.
“It could also serve as an intimidation tool, creating an atmosphere of constant fear among queer individuals; it could be used for persecution; and could aim to recruit the LGBT community as ‘voluntary’ informants, offering removal from the database in exchange for cooperation.”
Because of this continuous pressure, many individuals are seeking to escape Russia.
“To live in Russia with a non-traditional family or orientation, it can be perilous to one’s freedom and well-being,” said Anastasia Burakova, a human rights lawyer and founder of the Ark, an organization assisting Russian emigrants.
“We offer emergency accommodations in countries such as Serbia and Turkey, and often we are asked to provide this aid to victims of persecution in the LGBTQ community. Currently, we’re observing a rise in requests from such individuals facing persecution.”
Despite these hardships, Sphere remains hopeful for the future.
“Regardless of the challenges the state places before us, we sincerely believe that there is a future for the [LGBTQ] community in Russia – a future of at least minimal acceptance and no discrimination,” assured Shaida.
“After all, political regimes aren’t eternal; officials aren’t immortal. Even if the outlook seems bleak, we believe and endeavor to prove through all our actions that no state ban can erase us.”
However, Mikhail remains pessimistic in the short term.
“Individuals will be unable to express themselves, feeling compelled to watch their behavior closely to align with state-enforced norms,” he noted.
“While it’s heart-wrenching, I believe suicide statistics will rise.”
