LGBTQ+ Support Group in Russia’s Yekaterinburg Closes Amid ‘Anti-Queer Pressure’

A non-profit organization providing mental health and legal support services to LGBTQ+ people in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg announced Monday that it would shut down after coming under “anti-queer pressure.”

The organization, called Lupta, was created in April 2023 as a support center for people facing discrimination over their sexual identity after its predecessor, the LGBT Resource Center, was designated a “foreign agent.” Lupta organized lectures and provided individual consultations to LGBTQ+ Russians.

Lupta’s closure comes almost a year after the Russian Supreme Court banned the so-called “international LGBT movement” as “extremist,” effectively criminalizing any form of LGBTQ+ rights advocacy in the country.

“The last two years in Russia have been devastating for the queer community. It also affected us,” the organization said.