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Although homosexuality was decriminalized in Russia shortly after the fall of the Soviet Union, LGBT people there still face discrimination, persecution, and worse.
The so-called “gay propaganda” prohibition became a part of Russian national law in 2013. President Vladimir Putin has made it a central plank of his message, which, according to the New York Times, “positions Russia as a defender of Christian and traditional values, and the West as decadent and godless.”
The case in question surrounds three Russian gay-rights activists—Nikolay Bayev, Aleksei Kiselev, and Nikolai Alekseyev—who were arrested and fined for staging demonstrations from 2009 to 2012 stating that homosexuality is natural, and not a perversion.
In its ruling, the court found that “the very purpose of the laws and the way they were formulated and applied [was] discriminatory and, over all, served no legitimate public interest.”
Russia “failed to demonstrate how freedom of expression on LGBT issues would devalue or otherwise adversely affect ‘traditional families’ or would compromise their future,” the court found.
The ruling also said that the laws flouted “a clear European consensus about the recognition of individuals’ right to openly identify themselves as gay, lesbian, or any other sexual minority, and to promote their own rights and freedoms.”
The court found that Russia had been unable to “provide any explanation of the mechanism” by which a minor might be enticed into a “homosexual lifestyle,” “let alone any science-based evidence that one’s sexual orientation or identity was susceptible to change under external influence.”
According to the court, the fines imposed on the three Russian gay rights activists violated Article 10 (freedom of expression) and Article 14 (prohibition of discrimination) of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Russia ratified the European Convention on Human Rights in 1998.
The case was decided 6 to 1. The dissenting judge, Dmitry Dedov, is Russian.
Dedov, in his dissent, wrote that “the idea that same-sex sexual relations are normal indeed creates a situation where [children] are ready to engage in such relations, just because of the curiosity which is an integral part of a child’s mind. This is how the dissemination of ideas works vis-à-vis children.”
Taken to its conclusion, Dedov wrote, “the position of the court could be understood as saying that [pro-LGBT] demonstrations, even if held in the vicinity of the schools, are relevant and even useful in a democratic society. I am not sure that parents would agree with such a far-reaching liberal approach!”
“The laws on the ban of propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations among minors did not contradict international practice and were aimed at defending children’s morality and health,” the Russian Justice Ministry said in a statement. “The laws did not impose any measures that would ban homosexuality or condemn it officially. They were not discriminatory.”
Ultimately, the court ordered Russia to pay the three men a total of $48,000 in damages.
Andrey Klishas, a member of Russia’s Federation Council (the upper house of the nation’s parliament) said the country would not honor the court’s decision because it contradicts the Russian Constitution.
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