Police raid Moscow gay bars after a Supreme Court ruling labeled LGBTQ+ movement ‘extremist’
By The Associated Press
Russian security forces have raided gay clubs and bars across Moscow less than 48 hours after the country’s top court banned what it called the “global LGBTQ+ movement” as an extremist organization. Police searched venues across the Russian capital Friday night, including a nightclub, a male sauna, and a bar that hosted LGBTQ+ parties, under the pretext of a drug raid. Eyewitnesses told journalists that clubgoers’ passports were checked and photographed by the security services. The raids follow a decision by Russia’s Supreme Court to label the country’s LGBTQ+ “movement” as an extremist organization. Activists fear it could give authorities free reign to crack down on queer groups and activists.
