This past week was an eventful time for the LGBTQ+ community in Russia; Brittany Griner was released and Putin signed a law expanding restrictions on LGBTQ+ representation.
On Thursday, Dec. 8, Griner was released from a detention center in Russia. With the news becoming public, it was revealed negotiations had been ongoing and were finalized in the past few weeks. President Biden made the announcement alongside Griner’s wife, Cherelle, when she was safely on a plane en route home. Initially sentenced to nine years in Russian prison due to a minor drug charge, it was evident her sentencing was influenced by her gender and sexuality. Celebrities, politicians, teammates, and the entire LGBTQ+ community were demanding justice for her, and this week it was granted. She has been detained since February of this year. On behalf of all those fighting for her safety, we are celebrating her homecoming from all over.
A few days before her release, President Vladimir Putin signed a law intensifying the restrictions on LGBTQ+ rights and representation in Russia. In 2013 Putin outlawed “propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations.” However, this new law expands the definition of propaganda to include advertising, media, online resources, books, films, and theater productions. Said law will also ban spreading information about gender transitions among minors as it can allude to propaganda promoting pedophilia. Limiting, and nearly halting representation of the queer community is extremely dangerous. With a vote of 379 to 0, it was a clear message that Russia will continue to work against the LGBTQ+ community.