Russia adds ‘LGBT movement’ to list of extremist groups

Russia has added the “LGBT movement” to a list of extremist and terrorist organisations that will be tracked by the country’s Federal Financial Monitoring Service (Rosfinmonitoring).

Rosfinmonitoring can freeze bank accounts belonging to people or groups designated as extremists or terrorists.

Currently, about 14,000 people and entities are on the list.

Other organisations on the blacklist include the Islamist terror group al-Qaeda and Meta, the United States tech firm that owns Facebook and Instagram.

The list also includes associates of Alexei Navalny, late Russian opposition leader.

On Friday, RT, Russian media, reported that entities deemed to be involved in extremist activities or terrorism will include “the international LGBT social movement and its structural units”.

The move follows a ruling by the country’s supreme court last November that upheld the ministry of justice’s recognition of the “international LGBT movement” as extremist.

Judges also recognised its structural divisions as fitting the same description and banned them.

In the past decade, Russia has tightened restrictions on expressions of sexual orientation and gender identity to conform with what President Vladimir Putin says are family values.

The country also outlawed the promotion of “non-traditional” sexual relations and banned legal or medical changes of gender.