Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine is making life harder for LGBT+ people in Russia

The idea of Russia as a defender of traditional Christian beliefs has been used to justify Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, write Mary Ilyushina and Mary Gelman

Yulia and Kris at home in St Petersburg (The Washington Post by Mary Gelman/VII)

As Russian president Vladimir Putin steers Russia toward becoming a closed-off, conservative society, ruled by “traditional values” and bound tightly to the Orthodox Church, with visions of a “Russian world” in opposition to the decadent, amoral West, the Russian parliament has expanded Moscow’s official discrimination against gays and others of non-heterosexual orientations.

The idea of Russia as a defender of traditional Christian beliefs has been used to justify Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. And it has driven the Russian Parliament to tighten restrictions on LGBT+ “propaganda”.

In December, Putin signed legislation making it illegal to promote or “praise” same-sex relationships, to publicly express non-heterosexual orientations, or to suggest they are “normal” – expanding a 2013 law that prohibited spreading “gay propaganda” among minors. That ban now applies to all ages.