January 27, 2025

Making a List


Making a List

After, in 2023, designating the so-called "LGBT movement" as an "extremist organization," Russia's Ministry of Internal Affairs began collecting data on persons identifying as LGBT, according to Meduza.

Law enforcement agencies collect data during raids on clubs and private parties. In the Leningrad Region, information on LGBT individuals may have reached law enforcement agencies after a raid on a private party in Koltushi – guests were asked to provide passports and unlock their phones.

According to Meduza, the Ministry of Internal Affairs is discussing the creation of a unifed electronic registry of LGBT people. Some of Meduza's sources believe that such a database should be public.

Due to staffing shortages in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, such a database has yet to be created. However, human rights activists suggest that information already collected may be used to initiate criminal cases of participation in an "extremist organization" or "LGBT propaganda."

On November 30, 2023, the Russian Supreme Court upheld the Justice Ministry's claim to recognize the non-existent "international LGBT public movement" as an "extremist organization."

– Translation of reportage by Bumaga.

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