Putin's war on the LGBTQIA+ community

Presented by the Gender and Sexual Diversities Research Group, which sits within the Global Diversities and Inequalities Research Centre, and as part of the SCDM Research Seminar Series

On July 24, 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed legislation banning members of the transgender community from changing their gender “officially or medically”. This means trans Russians will not have access to hormone treatment or gender-affirmation surgery, be able to legally adopt children or have legally recognised marriages. This talk investigates the latest crackdown on the rights of trans people in Russia and the impact of these new restrictions, and examines expanded laws deeming it illegal for both journalists to report on and organisations to disseminate information about trans issues - and queer issues in general - in a positive light.

worked as a journalist in Moscow from 1989 to 1995 and became a magazine editor in 1996 shortly after moving to the UK. She is an associate professor, principal lecturer and journalism course leader at London Met and is working on a PhD on press freedoms in Russia.

This paper explores the coverage of LGBTQ+ topics in 10 mainstream Russian media outlets before, during, and after the adoption of the laws restricting information that can be provided on LGBTQ+ topics and the rights of LGBTQ+ people in 2013, 2022 and 2023. The paper takes a mixed methods approach, first quantitatively examining the amount of coverage in selected media outlets, and then qualitatively analysing the nature and tone of coverage with reference to style guidance on appropriate coverage from LGBTQ+ advocacy groups and charities. Findings indicate that both the amount and tone of coverage changed over the years as each law entered the public discourse as a law proposal – there was significantly more coverage, and the tone of media publications grew increasingly hostile in both quality publications and tabloids, while voices of LGBTQ people were excluded from the coverage.

is a researcher and lecturer interested in Russian post-Soviet journalism, political communication, alternative media, propaganda, post-truth and ‘fake news’; her PhD thesis was on RT (Russia Today).

The Global Diversities and Inequalities Research Centre is a home for interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary scholarship that explores migration, diasporas, nations, regions and localities through the lenses of diversity and inequality.

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Image credit: Alexander Grey via Unsplash

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