The raids came exactly one year after Russia’s Supreme Court ruled that the “LGBTQ+ movement” should be banned as an “extremist organization.”
ADVERTISEMENTRussian police raided several bars and nightclubs across Moscow on Saturday as part of a government crackdown on “LGBTQ+ propaganda”, state media reported.
Smartphones, laptops and video cameras were seized, while officers examined the documents of clubgoers, Russian news agency Tass reported, citing police sources.
The raids came exactly one year after Russia’s Supreme Court ruled that the “LGBTQ+ movement” should be banned as an “extremist organization.”
His decision follows a decades-long crackdown on LGBTQ+ rights in Russia, where President Vladimir Putin has said “traditional family values” are a cornerstone of his quarter-century in power.
Footage posted on social media appeared to show partygoers being ordered to lie on the floor by police as officers moved through Moscow’s Arma nightclub.
The capital’s Mono bar was also targeted, according to Russian media. In a Telegram post on Saturday, the club’s management did not directly mention the incident with the police, but wrote: “Friends, we are very sorry that what happened happened. They found nothing forbidden. We live in such times, but life must go on.”
On Saturday, the police also arrested the head of the travel agency “Men Travel” according to laws against the LGBT population, Tass reported. The news agency says the 48-year-old is suspected of preparing a trip for “adherents of non-traditional sexual values” to visit Egypt during the Russian New Year holidays.
The raids reflect concerns from Russian activists who have warned that Moscow’s labeling of the “LGBTQ+ movement” as “extremist” – despite not being an official entity – could lead to Russian authorities targeting groups or individuals at will.
Other recent laws have also served to pressure those the Russian government believes do not conform to the country’s “traditional values.”
On November 23, Putin signed a law banning the adoption of Russian children by citizens of countries where gender affirmation care is legal.
The Kremlin leader also approved a law banning the dissemination of material encouraging people not to have children.
