The Russian LGBT Network, situated in St. Petersburg, allegedly “carrying out political operations” while posing as a charity, according to the authorities.

Following the government’s failed effort to liquidate the Russian LGBT Network and its parent organisation, the Charitable Sphere Foundation, in February, a Russian court has essentially shut down the country’s largest LGBTQ rights group. In St. Louis, a court. A court in St. Petersburg ruled in favour of Russia’s Justice Ministry on Thursday. The Charitable Sphere Foundation illegally “carrying out political operations using foreign property” under the cover of a charity, according to a ministry spokesman, and its actions are targeted at changing legislation, including the Russian Constitution. The Russian government also charged the organisation of propagating “LGBT beliefs” and engaging in actions that go against “traditional values” in its complaint.
Igor Kochetkov, the foundation’s founder and former director of the Russian LGBT Network, condemned the court’s judgement as well as the government’s argument that the charity violated “fundamental conventional family values outlined in the Constitution.”

According to an automated Facebook translation, he commented on social media, “It should be evident that the ministry and the court made this judgement not on a legal, but on an ideological basis.” “No Russian legislation prevents groups from engaging in activities that ‘do not correspond’ to any ideals. There is simply no legal basis for the liquidation of non-profit organisations. In this sense, the court’s ruling is emblematic: obligatory state ideology has returned. It’s official now.”
Despite the judge’s judgement, the foundation’s representative, Dilya Gafurova, stated that the organisation will not back down.