A protocol for “LGBT propaganda” (Part 1 of Article 6.21 of the Code of Administrative Offences) has been drawn up against the bookshop “Podpisnye Izdaniya.” This was reported by “Bumaga,” citing the press service of the city courts.
It is not yet known what exactly prompted the protocol. On 10 April, law enforcement officers visited the bookshop for an inspection. They confiscated several dozen books that mentioned LGBT issues. After the inspection, “Podpisnye Izdaniya” was given a list of 48 books that needed to be removed from the shop’s shelves.
At the end of May, the shop was fined 800,000 roubles (approx. US$9,000) under the same article. The Kuibyshev District Court found “LGBT propaganda” in Susan Sontag’s books “On Women” and “Against Interpretation and Other Essays,” as well as Olivia Laing’s “The Lonely City.”
In June, the court fined Elena Orlova, the director of “Podpisnye Izdaniya,” 20,000 roubles (approx. US$225). She was charged under the article on cooperation with an “undesirable organisation” (Art. 20.33 of the Code of Administrative Offences) because of Igor Olinevich’s book “I’m Going to Magadan.” The police and court claimed that the book was published with the support of the Belarusian Anarchist Black Cross, which is designated as “undesirable” in Russia.
10 July—The Kuibyshev District Court in St Petersburg closed the case against “Podpisnye Izdaniya” due to the expiration of the statute of limitations, reports the United Press Service of the city’s courts.
The shop was accused of selling 37 books which, according to experts from the Herzen State Pedagogical University, allegedly contained LGBT propaganda.
Asya Sokolova for OVD-Info
The adoption of the “LGBT propaganda” law marked not only widespread censorship but also intensified repression against LGBTQ people and the organisations that support them. With the designation of the “International LGBT Movement” as an “extremist organisation,” this pressure has increased once again.
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