Russia’s Justice Ministry filed a lawsuit in an unsuccessful attempt to “liquidate” the Russian LGBT Network under the belief it challenged “traditional values”.
The Russian LGBT Network promotes and protects the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people in Russia.
The network is known for its continued support of the LGBTQ+ community.
In 2017, during Chechnya’s horrific anti-gay purge, the Russian LGBT Network led efforts to support survivors and prevent abuse towards those targeted.
Between February and April 2017, groups of Chechnya’s law enforcement officials rounded up men on suspicion of being gay. Many of these men were held in unofficial detention facilities for days, humiliated, starved and tortured, as the Human Rights Watch reports.
According to the Press Service for St. Petersburg Courts, a lawsuit was filed by Russia’s Justice Ministry on Tuesday (11 February) which accused the Russian LGBT Network of platforming “LGBT views” that challenged Russian “traditional values”.
The Russian ministry’s lawsuit also argues that “all the activities of Sphere run contrary to the state policy designed to preserve, expand and develop [the country’s] human capital.”
Within the lawsuit, Russian officials said they want to “liquidate” the Sphere Foundation, the legal entity that operates the LGBT organisation works under.
However, the case has been deemed “unsuccessful” after the Kuibyshevsky District Court of St. Petersburg ruled not to move ahead with the case, according to NBC News.
Tanya Lokshina, associate director of Human Rights Watch’s Europe and Central Asia division, said she expects Russian officials to appeal to the court and have the case reconsidered.
“It’s good news for the immediate future,” Lokshina said to NBC News in response to the court’s decision to sideline the lawsuit.
“Their first step failed, but I don’t think they’re going to give up, because what happened is in sync with the ongoing, very disturbing trend of stifling independent voices in Russia.”
The associate director of Human Rights also noted how those working to support the LGBTQ+ community are often targeted by the Russian government.
“If you’re gay, as long as you hide it, as long as you do not speak up … it’s OK, but if you speak up … it becomes a very serious problem,” Lokshina said. “The Russian government is ready to tolerate gay people as long as they’re in the closet.”
Dilya Gafurova, a spokesperson for the Sphere Foundation, shared a statement with NBC News: “From the point of view of the Russian government, our very activity goes against the state ideology of traditional values.
“However, despite the whims of the political climate, LGBT+ people exist. We refuse to give up and let the government shut us down; we refuse to agree that the very activity of helping LGBT+ people does not correspond to the idea of ‘charity,’ as is stated in their claim. LGBT+ people are the citizens of this country just like every other social group and deserve the same rights and freedoms.”
Gafurova added that Russia’s latest effort “seems more and more like the government is trying to make any LGBT+ activism taboo”.
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