Non-Profit Soapbox

Russia’s ongoing spate of laws that discriminate against LGBT Russians reflects poorly on Russia’s understanding of, and commitment to, democratic norms and universal human rights obligations.  This, of course, is the Council’s primary focus.

However, Russia’s anti-LGBT laws also directly threaten Russia’s own interests.  They impede travel and tourism – by gay and transgender foreigners, yes, but also by those who worry about Russia’s commitment to the rule of law.  They undermine citizen-to-citizen exchanges – so vital to the breadth and strength of bilateral ties.  And they harm the ability of American and multinational companies operating in Russia to take logical, efficient business decisions to allow them to grow in mutually productive ways.

In recent months, public attention to the ongoing crackdown on LGBT rights in the Russian Federation and its potential impact on the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia in February 2014 has increased significantly.  President Obama addressed the issue on the Tonight Show, saying:

“I think Putin and Russia have a big stake in making sure the Olympics work, and I think they understand that for most of the countries that participate in the Olympics, we wouldn’t tolerate gays and lesbians being treated differently. They’re athletes, they’re there to compete. And if Russia wants to uphold the Olympic spirit, then every judgment should be made on the track, or in the swimming pool, or on the balance beam, and people’s sexual orientation shouldn’t have anything to do with it.” – President Obama

This fact sheet summarizes the developments in Russia and the guidance that we have received to date from our colleagues in Russia.

 LGBT People Are Being Targeted by Anti-LGBT Propaganda and Foreign Agents Laws

Following the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, Russia liberalized some of its anti-LGBT laws.  Most notably, homosexual relationships were decriminalized in 1993.  Transgender Russians have also been allowed to change their legal gender on identity documents since 1997, although there are many obstacles to the process and invasive surgical requirements remain in place.  Despite these liberalization trends during the immediate post-Soviet period, in recent years, Russian authorities have routinely denied permits for Pride parades, intimidated and arrested LGBT activists and condoned anti-LGBT statements by government officials. ILGA-Europe, the European section of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association, rates Russia  as the least protective country in Europe for LGBT citizens, ranking it 49th out of the 49 European countries rated in its annual survey.

In June 2013, the Russian duma in Moscow passed a new law banning the “propaganda of non-traditional sexual relationships”to minors.  The new federal law is closely related to several regional laws that were already on the books, all of which seek to penalize “propaganda” of homosexuality, generally with the intent of “protecting” minors.  The city of Sochi, which is the site of the upcoming Winter Olympics, has one of those regional laws in place.  And while the regional laws are not uniform, like the new federal law, they all tend to advance vague definitions of propaganda that lend themselves to the targeting and ongoing persecution of the country’s LGBT community. The language of this new law focuses on “non-traditional” sexual relationships, to contrast with “traditional values” or “traditional family” language that Russia is promoting at the UN to oppose positive statements supporting the human rights of LGBT people.