The St Petersburg bookshop “Podpisnye Izdaniya” has been fined 800,000 roubles (US$9,000) under the so-called “LGBT propaganda” law (Art. 6.21, Part 1 of the Code of Administrative Offences). This was reported by Mediazona.
The Kuybyshevsky District Court found “LGBT propaganda” in the books “On Women” and “Against Interpretation and Other Essays” by Susan Sontag, as well as “Everybody’s Body” by Olivia Laing.
A representative of the bookshop and the defence emphasised that the writer and publisher, not the shop, are responsible for the books’ content. They also noted that these works were not on the list of extremist materials.
On 10 April, law enforcement officers came to the bookshop for an inspection. They seized several dozen books mentioning LGBT topics. After the inspection, “Podpisnye Izdaniya” was given a list of 48 books to remove from the shelves.
Asya Sokolova for OVD-Info
The adoption of the “LGBT propaganda” law marked not only widespread censorship but also intensified repression against LGBTQ people and the organisations that support them. With the designation of the “International LGBT Movement” as an “extremist organisation,” this pressure has increased once again.
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