A Russian court branded the country's largest LGBT rights group "extremist," forcing it to dissolve rather than expose its staff to years in prison.
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On April 28, 2026, the St. Petersburg City Court granted a request from Russia's Ministry of Justice, filed and heard behind closed doors, to designate the Russian LGBT Network -- a 15-year-old organization that provided legal, psychological, and relocation assistance to LGBT people across Russia -- an "extremist organization," banning its activities nationwide and exposing participants to up to 10 years in prison. It was the sixth such extremism designation against an LGBT-linked Russian organization within two months, and follows the Russian Supreme Court's November 30, 2023 ruling that banned the "international LGBT movement" itself as extremist. On August 19, 2026, the Russian LGBT Network announced it was shutting down entirely, saying continued operation had become "impossible" and posed unacceptable risk to the people it served.
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- JURIST
A St. Petersburg court on Monday declared the Russian LGBT Network an extremist organization
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