Gay Nightclub Owner Arrested for “Extremism” in Russia
Mediazona. The club, which opened in 2021, regularly hosted drag parties. After the adoption of Russia’s expanded law barring “LGBT propaganda,” it marketed itself as a “bar-theater of parodies” and “a night bar with a show program.”The bar’s managers also did not write the address on social media networks, in the hope of protecting patrons from police and anti-LGBTQ vigilantes.Khasanov’s arrest came 20 days after the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, along with riot police, raided the nightclub.Patrons and performers, some in their underwear, were filmed being forced to lie on the floor or stand against the wall, and then asked what they were doing in the “f*g club.” Video footage of the raid — with the faces of police blurred out, but not those of the nightclub’s patrons — was later posted to a page for the pro-government movement “Russian Community of Orenburg” on the social media site VKontakte.According to the social media post, seven of the patrons were foreign citizens from former Soviet republics, and allegedly four were “minors”– though the video footage showing patrons’ faces appears to show people much older than 21 lined up against the bar.The post also claimed that the bar had sold “alcoholic products” without having the proper licensing or documentation.
Police also confiscated some of the performers’ outfits and wigs.However, pro-government forces and media outlets in Russia have been known to lie about alleged offenses to mislead and convince Russian citizens to support raids against LGBTQ establishments, which Russian authorities have viewed as a potential breeding ground for anti-war propaganda and liberal Western-style political ideologies.Following that raid, Alexander Klimov, the club’s art director, and its administrator, Diana Kamilyanova, were arrested and detained on charges of “promoting non-traditional sexual relationships” and of being members of an “extremist organization.” Both of those employees, as well as the club’s owner, are.
