Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, previously holding the position from 1999 until 2008. He was also the Prime Minister of Russia from 1999 to 2000 and again from 2008 to 2012.
Insecure and isolated: The 'illegal' life of Russia's LGBT citizens
euronews.comlie face down - came one day after Russia's top court banned the "international LGBT movement," claiming it was “extremist”.That’s despite no LGBT "movement" formally existing.Though she had already been trying to leave since the February 2022 Ukraine invasion, Agapov now hopes to escape Russia soon.“It's just very hard to do if you are not very wealthy or an IT specialist,” she said. “I am not going to seek asylum as, in my view, it is the last resort.
My house hasn’t been destroyed by a bomb and I am not an LGBT activist who can be sent to prison.”Attacks on LGBT rights in Russia are far from new.“I was not surprised at this decision,” said Professor Richard Mole Director of the School of Slavonic and East European Studies at UCL. “Whenever things are going badly for the Russian government they need a distraction.”He cites a long list of examples.
Following protests over Vladimir Putin's reelection in 2013, Moscow introduced a highly controversial "gay propaganda" law.Called by Human Rights Watch (HRW) a “classic example of political homophobia”, it banned informing children about lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender relationships.
Again in 2022, with the Ukraine war “not going so well”, Mole cites how Putin extended the controversial law to all ages and ramped up fines to 400,000 rubles (€4,000) for offenders.
