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In further attacks against LGBT folk, the Russian Supreme Court as ruled that the "international LGBT movement" is now an extremist organization during a secretive hearing that was classified due to "national security reasons" only allowing in Justice Ministry representatives. There was no defendant and journalists were taken into the courtroom after the ruling to be read the verdict. No evidence was provided to reporters regarding the ruling other than the mention that authorities has identified "signs and manifestations of an extremist nature" and that the LGBT movement was guilty of "incitement of social and religious discord."

This ruling should be zero surprise to those paying attention to Russian politics over the last decade. One of the first things Putin did after his re-election was pass a 2013 law banning "propagandizing nontraditional sexual relationships among minors" using intentionally vague language could interpreted as being a ban against the public discussion of LGBT topics or even public displays of affection. This law issued out fines to offenders.

Fast forward nearly one decade and one failed war later: Putin is once again playing this same note, targeting gay and transgender folks with increasingly draconian laws which have escalated to what is now an out-right ban on their existence. In 2022, a new law was passed by the Duma that made it outright illegal to spread "propaganda" about "nontraditional sexual relations"—IE, a ban on all depictions of LGBT folks in media, advertising, movies, and social media. These laws have consistently attempted to smear queer folk with accusations of pedophilia and "corrupting children" while silencing the voices of the accused, a tactic which we see being used by the GOP here in the US.

The following year saw a crackdown on transgender folk essentially banning all therapy outside "conversion therapy"—a practice which is now considered cruel and unusual and is not considered a valid treatment by the scientific and medical community. The 2023 law not only outlawed transgender healthcare, but also annulled the marriages of transgender folk, placed a ban on changing gender markers on official documents, and prevents transgender people from adopting or having guardianship over children—including their own. In one case a transgender parent lost custody of their own child due to a complaint to authorities from her neighbor who later told them they had "brought it on themselves" and that they "could have easily avoided it by staying in the closet."

The details of this new ruling have now taken this to a new level. The veneer of "for the children" and "propaganda" have been removed to reveal what this was all about initially and what anti-LGBT legislation is always about: elimination. The language used here casting LGBT folks as an "international movement" should be familiar to anyone who has studied history. This is the language of fascists framing minorities in conspiratorial and accusatory language. This is the "international Jewry" of our day. And how appropriate as the first groups to be marked for extermination by the Nazis were homosexual and transgender folks who were put into camps even before the Jews.

With this new ruling is a requirement to preface any mention of LGBT material including reporting with the warning that "the international LGBT movement" is an "extremist organization." Someone found displaying symbols of an extremist group such as a rainbow flag could face 15 days in jail for the first offense and up to 4 years in prison for repeat offenses. The Russian government keeps a list of known "extremists" whose assets are confiscated by the state and are not allowed to run for public office. Activists and pro-LGBT organizations have been designated as "foreign agents" and must label themselves as such—a designation that is used to insinuate espionage.

Americans need to pay attention and wake up to what is happening in the world. The same fascist political movements we see criminalizing queer identities in Russia have allies here in the MAGA movement. Americans are facing a dark road ahead as a third of the country fully behind a candidate that just years prior attempted to launch a coup to stop an election being certified. This same candidate now campaigns on "retribution" and "doing to them what you did to us." His followers are fixated on imposing a violent regime based around vigilantism where queer folk will not only banned from public life as we know it, but are imprisoned and institutionalized (more on that in another thread).

What we are seeing here in Russia are the kind of policies that Trump, DeSantis, and every other Republican in this country will attempt to implement here in America if they are given the chance. It is genocide and it is happening on a global scale.

Sources: https://pastebin.com/raw/t1FqXpVe