Russia's LGBTQ+ community is living in fear following new laws and court rulings, activists say
The LGBTQ+ community in Russia has been under pressure for years, but the situation has worsened since the Kremlin sent troops into Ukraine
TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Gela Gogishvili and Haoyang Xu led a happy life as a gay couple in Russia, even as President Vladimir Putin’s government took an increasingly anti-LGBTQ+ stance.
Their social media posts and videos drew thousands of followers, and they were greeted by them sometimes on the streets in Kazan, in Russia's Tatarstan region, where Gogishvili was a pharmacist and Xu, from China, studied international relations at a university.
But the online threats began after the Kremlin in December 2022 expanded its ban of “propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations” from minors to adults, effectively outlawing any public endorsement of LGBTQ+ activities. Then came the complaints about them to authorities.
They were detained in 2023 and accused of spreading “LGBT propaganda” among minors. Gogishvili was given a hefty fine, while Xu was put in a detention center for migrants to await deportation.
