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.
Russian LGBTQ+ museum closes after new law bans ‘gay propaganda’
The founder of Russia’s only LGBTQ+ museum said he was forced to close its doors on Wednesday after President Vladimir Putin signed a law expanding restrictions against what lawmakers call “gay propaganda”.
The new legislation effectively bans all LGBTQ+ expression in public or in media, as Moscow tightens a crackdown on open discussion of sexual and gender minorities. “Closing the museum is a personal tragedy, but not only (that): this is the tragedy of my people and my homeland,” said museum founder Pyotr Voskresensky, 37, in text messages.
Doctor and activist Voskresensky opened the temporary exhibition on Nov. 27 in his flat in the city of St Petersburg. It aimed to highlight historical LGBTQ+ figures through artworks and objects such sculptures and books, such as a portrait of renowned Russian composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky, who historians widely agree was gay.
About 200 people visited the museum in less than two weeks, said Voskresensky. It closed in the wake of the new legislation, signed into law on Monday, which expanded a 2013 ban on “gay propaganda” to children to now cover such LGBTQ+ expression among adults in public, online, or in films, books or advertising.
