Russia has filed a motion with its Supreme Court to ban activities affiliated with the “international LGBT public movement”, and label it as extremist.

The Kremlin’s justice ministry said that the movement shows signs of “extremist activist”, including inciting “social and religious strife”.

The motion, which will be looked into at the end of this month, could leave any LGBT activist in Russia liable to criminal prosecution and make it virtually impossible for any LGBT organization to operate.

It is likely that the move was pushed to win votes ahead of 2024’s presidential election, in which Putin is likely to stand for his fifth term as president, however, this has not been publicly announced yet.

Putin has said the LGBT movement is part of a Western attack on Russian values.

The anti-LGBT crackdown was accelerated when Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. This year, transgender rights took a significant blow when gender reassignment surgery was banned in July.

What do you make of this move?