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Analysis | Russia: The 'international LGBT movement' is extremist, terrorist

Writer's picture: Reginald SpannReginald Spann
MOSCOW, RUSSIA - MARCH 20 (RUSSIA OUT) Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures during his meeting his supporters at the Grand Kremlin Palace on March 20, 2024 in Moscow, Russia. Following the re-election of Valdimir Putin for the fifth term last weekend, he met with about 400 officially registered public supporters and local celebrities. (Photo by Contributor/Getty Images)
MOSCOW, RUSSIA - MARCH 20 (RUSSIA OUT) Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures during his meeting his supporters at the Grand Kremlin Palace on March 20, 2024 in Moscow, Russia. Following the re-election of Valdimir Putin for the fifth term last weekend, he met with about 400 officially registered public supporters and local celebrities. (Photo by Contributor/Getty Images)


MOSCOW (CC) - On Friday Russia added the LGBT movement to its official state list of extremist and terrorist organizations. Moscow is in the middle of a longstanding march to uphold cornerstone "family values" in President Vladimir Putin's conservative administration.


Other groups finding themselves or their publications placed on the Kremlin's extremist list in the past include Al-Qaeda, Meta Platforms Inc., Jehovah's Witnesses, the Neo-Nazi Slavic Union and Falun Gong.


Friday's move dovetails off a judgment rendered by Russia's Supreme Court on November 30, 2023 that effective immediately prohibited the “international LGBT public movement.” The Court upheld the Ministry of Justice's lawsuit.


The AP reported that the ministry in announcing the litigation through an online statement revealed authorities had identified “signs and manifestations of extremist nature” in “the activities of the LGBT movement active” in Russia, including “incitement of social and religious discord.”


People associated with the "international LGBT social movement and its structural units” may have their assets, services, money and financing frozen by Russian banks.


Books, brochures, films, musical works, slogans, websites, artwork and handwritten material are all likely subject to the ruling.


A statute banning "gay propaganda," Moscow's first legislation restricting LGBT activity was enacted in 2013.


Russia's parliament passed that federal law by a vote of 436-0 and made it effectually illegal to correlate homosexual and heterosexual unions, as well as to distribute materials including rainbow-colored items describing gay rights. Those found guilty of violating the law may be fined.


Activists in Russia back then vowed to continue their mission.


"It was totally expected – I don't take today's decision as the end of something," declared Igor Kochetkov, the head of LGBT Network, a St. Petersburg-based group.


"We insist on equal rights for all and we will continue to stand up against those patriarchal values that are today being actively promoted by the church and the government. We are doing this because we think these values, these norms, don't fit into a modern society."


It is not only the Ancient of Days' true Church of Jesus Christ whose "modern" values clash with the LGBT community's. Muslims, Jews and other orthodox faiths also do not, never have or will likely ever adhere to LGBT's relationship values: a fact usually overlooked, talked around or misrepresented.


Rather, Russia's crackdown on LGBT living is more political than faith-based.


"The government is using these instincts – homophobia, xenophobia – to justify its policies against an independent civil society," Kochetkov said. "They are making enemies out of us – not just LGBT society, but any group in society that doesn't agree with their current politics."


He told the AP earlier this month that gay coupling is not really suppressed in Russia.


“So far we haven’t seen attempts to ban gay relations.”


Russia's Supreme Court ruling was more concerned with silencing “any independent opinion that doesn’t fit with the official state ideology ... and any organized civic activity that the government can’t control,” Kochetkov said.


In 2020 a revision of Russia's constitution outlawed same-sex marriage. The 2013 law was then extended to include adults too.


Same-sex marriage is permitted as the law of the land in the US.


The Christian Commander reported on a recent same-sex marriage hosted by former President Donald Trump's estate in Florida.


A 2023 law passed by the Duma, Russia's lower house of parliament forbid all “medical interventions aimed at changing the sex of a person.”


Russia's regulations also prevent people from changing gender in public records. Its family code has been updated to permit the annulment of marriages for reasons including gender transformation.


In addition, anyone who changes gender may be added to a list of persons prohibited from becoming foster parents or adopting children.


Earlier in March two people who worked at a bar in Orenburg that is some 900 miles south of the Kremlin were arrested, imprisoned until May 18 and face 10 years in prison for allegedly “promoting non-traditional sexual relations among the visitors of the bar.”


They appear to be the first two people arrested under the extremist and terrorist ordinances.


“The court chose a preventive measure for the art director and administrator of the ‘Pose’ bar,” the Orenburg tribunal announced last Wednesday.


Russia has for the last few years faced backlash from liberals who accuse it of aligning with Christian values. Analysts and commentators tend to focus on Jesus instead of other faiths.


Pejoratively referred to as the "Christian right," orthodox believers face ridicule from those who believe the Church should evolve with the times.


While some liberal bishops and preachers claiming to be Christians adhere to the LGBT lifestyle and philosophy, orthodox faiths including Messianic Judaism, Islam and Christians cite the Holy Bible in believing that homosexuality is a sin against God Almighty.


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Reginald Spann is the Publisher and Senior Content Editor of both The Christian Commander and Seven Angels Sentinel. He has been writing and editing professionally for over 20 years and is the author of the book: The Healing of a Nation.


A graduate of the University of Missouri - St. Louis' college of psychology with a minor in communications, he is a freelance journalist who is available for editing and writing about a variety of content including sports, religion, politics, entertainment and pop culture.


You may contact him through the comments or our Partnership page at christiancommander.com

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wyoung1949
29 mar 2024
Obtuvo 5 de 5 estrellas.

Interesting

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