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The Moscow City Court has granted the Ministry of Justice’s claim and banned the activities of “Centre T,” reports SOTAvision. The organisation has been operating since 2020 and provides support to transgender and non-binary people.
The hearing was held behind closed doors.
“We consider this decision unfounded and repressive, and we will file an appeal within the period stipulated by law,” the statement from Centre T said.
The organisation added: “For us, the court’s decision means only one thing: our work is important and needed. We’ll continue so that transgender and non-binary people in Russia still have access to support and information.”
In recent weeks, courts have also designated seven more organisations that help queer people as extremist:
—the “Russian LGBT Network”
—St Petersburg-based group “Vyhod” (“Coming Out”)
—the Samara-based LGBT+ public organisation “Irida”
—the Moscow Community Centre for LGBT Initiatives
—the “LGBT Resource Centre” in Yekaterinburg, a major city in the Urals
—the “Kallisto” movement in Yaroslavl, a city north-east of Moscow
—the media project “Parni+”
Additionally, the Ministry of Justice is seeking a ban on Novosibirsk-based organisation T9 NSK, which supports trans people. Novosibirsk is the largest city in Siberia.
- At the end of 2023, the Supreme Court of Russia declared the non-existent “International LGBT Public Movement” to be extremist. Since then, the pressure on the LGBTQ+ community in Russia has intensified. Some of its members have become involved in criminal cases under articles related to extremist organisations. Some businesspeople involved with queer culture in some way have also faced criminal prosecution.