Russia’s new anti-LGBT law: Roskomnadzor sets criteria for compliance and Bolshoi Theater cancels Rudolf Nureyev performance

The Russian Media Authority has come up with criteria on how the new law against LGBT propaganda must be complied with. The Bolshoi Theater drops its performance about the queer ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev.

Even before the Olympics in 2014, Russia introduced a law against propaganda of non-traditional sex aimed at minors.

In December 2022, a new law entered into force.

It prohibits such “propaganda” against everyone.

Now the media supervisory authority Roskomnadzor has come up with the criteria for how these rules must be complied with, quoted by Agency.

• It should make society think of LGBT only in a negative way, believes blogger Vlad Krylov.
• It looks like the authorities want to exclude all positive references to LGBT people, says Vladimir Kharitonov, head of an association for online publicists.

At the same time, the news came last week that the world-renowned Bolshoi Theater has decided to drop its performance about the gay ballet legend Rudolf Nureyev – due to the restrictions imposed by the new LGBT law.

Mina Skouen, LGBT expert at the Helsinki Committee, reacts like this to the criteria that have come from the Russian media inspectorate:

– It shows that the only thing that will now be left of information on LGBT issues is that which condemns, marginalises and encourages discrimination. Or as in Putin’s own speeches, as part of the war propaganda against Ukraine, says Skouen.

Vladimir Putin used a large part of his big speech on September 31, 2022 – the day Russia annexed four Ukrainian regions – for a fierce attack on queer rights in the West – promising that it will never happen in Russia. The president said, among other things, that the West has gone to “a radical denial of moral norms, religion and family”.

– Roskomnadzor’s statement is only a further clarification of the policy that is already being implemented, says Mina Skouen.

– The law, which entered into force in December 2022, is actively used to prevent all LGBT expressions in public. In addition, many feel compelled to extensive self-censorship; everything from bookshops to the Bolshoi Theatre, fearing that the law will hit them.

Mina Skouen is particularly concerned about how this affects young people:

– We also see this fear in individuals. In online forums, young people debate whether it is still safe to use rainbow emojis. Although what is special about this new variant of the law is that it no longer only applies to minors, it is the youngest who are hit the hardest, when information that is important to their identity, physical and mental health becomes illegal – and only hated is left, says Skouen.

The new law was signed by Vladimir Putin in December and prohibits “propaganda for non-traditional sexual relations and pedophilia”.

After that, booksellers have removed books from their shelves, authors have been asked to rewrite their texts and, according to Agenstvo, for example, the word “gay” has been replaced by “gut” in the translation of “Sex and the City”.