Moscow:

The Supreme Court of Russia declared on Thursday "the international LGBT public movement" as an extremist organization and banned its activities across the country. The Ministry of Justice filed the motion that led to the decision. The hearing was held behind closed doors, but reporters were allowed in to hear the court's decision. Nobody from the defendants had been presented in the court. In 2020, the Russian constitution was amended to explicitly state that marriage is a union of a man and a woman. The nation does not recognize same-sex unions.

Earlier this year, a law was adopted prohibiting the propaganda among minors of non-traditional sexual relations. In a later movement, those restrictions were extended to all age groups in Russia. References to LGBT people have been deleted from books, films, adverts, and TV shows. Earlier this month, one Russian TV channel discolored a rainbow in a South Korean pop video to avoid being accused of violating the gay propaganda law.

At the Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament, Vitaly Milonov, an MP from the ruling party, United Russia, said the ban on LGBT groups was not about sexual minorities. “It's more about the political agenda proclaimed by this LGBT international movement. They have their interests and goals. They act as a political force, a political structure, and the goals of this structure are against the Russian Constitution. And I'm looking forward to the next step: banning the six-color rainbow flag. We don't need this flag. It's a symbol of the fight with the traditional family. I hope that no one can show this flag in Russia,” he said.

Political observers said that under Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin has embraced an ideology centered around conservative thinking and traditional family values.