In his early 20s, Mikhail* (not his real name), a gay man from Ufa, Russia, was pursuing his passion: drag performances.
“I was touring, competing, meeting new artists, and I envisioned drag as the foundation of my life,” he told Al Jazeera.
At the time, Mikhail lived openly and rarely faced overt hostility from the public. However, in recent years, the situation began to deteriorate.
“Concerns emerged in the club industry,” he explained. “Restrictions were imposed on Ukrainian performers, and topics related to LGBTQ issues were banned. In everyday life, there was just constant anxiety.”
The breaking point came when police raided the venue where Mikhail worked.
“I’ve been caught in raids before, but the last one was the most brutal and terrifying,” he recalled.
“It was followed by two interrogations, each lasting eight or nine hours, with relentless psychological pressure. After that, I was forced to leave the country to preserve my freedom.”
Russia is not only waging war against Ukraine but also against those it perceives as internal enemies. In recent years, the persecution of LGBTQ individuals, organizations, and communities has intensified as the Kremlin seeks to uphold “traditional values.”
The monitoring program coordinator of the Russian LGBTQ organization Sphere, who requested anonymity, told Al Jazeera that before 2022, most abuses against LGBTQ individuals involved “everyday and institutional discrimination, rather than direct repression.”
However, following amendments to the ban on “gay propaganda” in 2022, the ban on gender transition, and the designation of the “international LGBT movement” as an “extremist organization” in 2023, at least two-thirds of abuses are now carried out by authorities.
The USSR was one of the first countries to decriminalize homosexuality in 1917, repealing tsarist-era laws that were rarely enforced. However, under Joseph Stalin in the 1930s, homosexuality was seen as a threat to Soviet society, and in 1934, “sodomy” became punishable by three to five years in prison.
Later, it was classified as a mental illness, and both gay men and lesbians were forcibly confined to asylums. It wasn’t until 1993, after the fall of communism, that the ban was lifted again.
A new wave of persecution began in the 2010s with laws against “gay propaganda,” ostensibly to protect children.
President Vladimir Putin’s government has framed the LGBTQ rights movement as a foreign agenda aimed at undermining Russia’s traditional family values.
“The Russian authorities do not distinguish between paedophilia and ‘non-traditional’ orientations, as evident in the 2023 statistics from the Judicial Department of the Supreme Court, where all three articles of 6.21 are grouped together,” explained Noel Shaida, head of Sphere’s communications department.
In late 2023, Russia’s Supreme Court ruled the “international LGBT movement” an “extremist organization.” While no such formal entity exists, the vagueness of the ruling broadens the scope of potential targets.
“Employees of any organization supporting LGBTQ individuals risk being accused of participating in or organizing extremist activity, leading to politically motivated criminal prosecution and potentially lengthy prison sentences,” said Sphere’s monitoring coordinator.
“As a result, many initiatives have ceased operations in the country. Some organizations have relocated their staff abroad to continue their work. Only a few queer initiatives remain within Russia, and most are forced to operate underground.”
In November 2023, Moscow police raided numerous bars and establishments believed to cater to queer clientele.
“According to our data, there were at least 43 such raids across the country from November 2023 to January 2025,” said the Sphere representative.
“Outcomes vary: from criminal prosecution of establishment owners for ‘organizing and participating in an extremist organization’ to fines for propaganda. Often, raids do not lead to formal persecution, but the targeted establishments quickly alter their operations to demonstrate loyalty to government policies or simply shut down.”
The Sphere monitor added that attendees are sometimes handed summonses to military registration offices, potentially drafting them to fight in Ukraine.
“Published footage often shows visitors forced to lie naked on cold floors during raids, which can last several hours,” they continued.
“Violence is sometimes used to coerce compliance with illegal police demands, such as accessing phone contents or answering questions. In one instance, people were forced to squat until a friend provided their phone password. This amounts to torture.”
Law enforcement also targets gay parties and entraps individuals via dating apps, arresting them on charges like narcotics possession or “gay propaganda,” which can include displaying Gay Pride symbols or speaking positively about same-sex relationships.
The crackdown affects both public and private spheres of queer life.
In December, Andrei Kotov, director of the Men Travel agency in Moscow, was arrested for organizing “extremist activities” and later found dead in his cell, deemed a “suicide” by authorities.
The independent Russian news site Meduza, now operating from exile in Latvia, recently reported that authorities appear to be compiling data from gay party raids—such as fingerprints and DNA samples—along with transgender individuals’ medical records to create an LGBTQ database.
The purpose of such a database remains unclear, but Russian police already maintain a database of drug addicts, allegedly used to entrap individuals or plant evidence when corrupt officers need to meet quotas.
“The collected data could be used to initiate a major criminal case on charges of extremism against the non-existent ‘International LGBT movement,’ which allegedly has cells across Russia,” said Irina, Sphere’s head of advocacy.
“It could also serve as a tool of intimidation, creating an atmosphere of fear among queer people, enabling persecution, or recruiting LGBTQ individuals as informants in exchange for removal from the database.”
Due to the ongoing pressure, many are attempting to flee Russia.
“Being a non-traditional family or having a non-traditional orientation in Russia can endanger one’s freedom and life,” said Anastasia Burakova, a human rights lawyer and founder of Kovcheg (the Ark), an organization assisting Russian emigrants.
“We provide emergency accommodation in countries like Serbia and Turkey, and we’ve seen an increase in requests from LGBTQ individuals facing persecution.”
Despite the challenges, Sphere remains optimistic about the future.
“Despite the state’s obstacles, we believe in a future for the LGBT+ community in Russia, one that includes acceptance and an end to discrimination,” stated Noel Shaida.
“Political regimes are not eternal, and officials are not immortal. Even if the future seems bleak, we believe, and our activities demonstrate, that no state bans can erase us.”
Mikhail, however, is less hopeful in the short term.
“People won’t be able to express themselves. They’ll monitor their behavior to conform to the norms dictated by the state,” he said.
“Sadly, I think suicide rates will rise.”
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