Top Russian court bans LGBT movement, brands activists as ‘extremists’

Supreme Court of Russia rules LGBT activists as extremists, leading to arrests & prosecutions. U.N. Human Rights Office criticizes ruling, calling for repeal. LGBT community in Russia faces fear of arrest & prosecution due to 2013 law criminalizing "propaganda" of non-traditional sexual orientations.

Russia's Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that LGBT activists should be designated as extremists, in a move that representatives of gay and transgender people say will lead to arrests and prosecutions.

A court announced that it had approved a request from the justice ministry to recognise "the international LGBT social movement" as extremist and to ban its activities.

The move is part of a string of laws outlawing the promotion of "non-traditional" sexual relations and banning legal or medical changes of gender.

President Vladimir Putin, expected shortly to announce that he will seek a new six-year term in March, has long sought to promote an image of Russia as a guardian of traditional moral values in contrast with a decadent West.

In a speech last year, he said the West was welcome to adopt "rather strange, in my view, new-fangled trends like dozens of genders, and gay parades" but had no right to impose them on other countries.

Mr. Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters before the court decision was announced that the Kremlin was "not following" the case and had no comment on it.

The Supreme Court took only just over two hours to issue its ruling. The proceedings were closed to media, but reporters were allowed in to hear the decision.