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Virtually (non)existent? The role of digital media in Russian LGBTQ+ activism

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Abstract

Over the last two decades, LGBTQ+ individuals in Russia have been using digital media to communicate and mobilize, making up for their lack of representation in mainstream media. However, the government has strengthened its control over the internet to reinforce authoritarianism, traditionalism, and anti-Westernism, using queerphobia to target online sources of ‘LGBTQ+ propaganda.’ This article explores the important role of digital media in Russian LGBTQ+ activism and how activists deal with issues of community and visibility in the face of growing authoritarian control. Russian LGBTQ+ activists face the challenges of balancing safety, visibility, and belonging. To make the most impact, they use creative strategies and international digital media, utilizing delocalized visibility to achieve belonging without compromising their safety.

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Notes

  1. Some scholars (Essig 1999; Kondakov 2020; Suyarkulova 2019) have pointed out the complexities of gender and sexual identities in Russia, which may not align with Western queer theory. While recognizing these nuances, this article will use the terms ‘LGBTQ + ’ and ‘queer’ when discussing the activism of non-heteronormative individuals because, as the analysis demonstrates, Russian activists have embraced and extensively used Western terminology and ideas. For instance, most groups and media sources incorporate Western terms into their names and rhetoric (e.g., the Russian LGBT Network, LGBT group Vykhod [Coming Out], and the journal Квиp [Queer]). The online museum of LGBT history in Russia also utilizes Western terms such as ‘gay,’ ‘lesbian,’ ‘queer culture’, and ‘coming out’ in its educational articles.

  2. In July 2023, Russia banned gender reassignment surgery. The legislative change also includes banning individuals who have undergone gender changes from adopting children, and annulling marriages where one party had undergone gender reassignment.

  3. Following the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Tinder left Russia. Grindr still operates in the country with safety guidelines (Grindr 2024). Online sources also distribute services on preserving anonymity while using this dating app such as registering without a phone number (Dzen.ru 2023). Hornet was blocked by the Russian authorities but is still accessible with VPN (Govoritmoskva.ru 2023).

  4. The numerical code ‘404’ refers to ‘not found,’ alluding to the ‘invisibilization’ of LGBTQ + youth.

  5. In 2021, Russian LGBTQ + activists launched nationwide and global petitions on Change.org to prevent the amendments to the law, which would ban propaganda of ‘nontraditional relations’ to Russians of all ages and via all kinds of sources. They managed to gather over 120,000 signatures, including about 85,000 signatures among the Russian population (Change.org 2021).

  6. Since 2017, the Chechen authorities have systematically detained and tortured dozens of locals for their non-heteronormative sexual orientation and gender identities. Russian LGBTQ + activists gathered over two million signatures on Change.org, urging for an immediate and unbiased investigation (BBC 2017). The Russian federal authorities, however, have remained unresponsive to these demands.

  7. Russian LGBTQ + activists gathered over 59,000 signatures, urging the states that are signatories of international human rights conventions to facilitate a greater possibility for Russian queers to relocate from an increasingly risky environment (Action.allout.org, 2023).

  8. The ‘foreign agent’ law (adopted in 2012) requires politically active organizations and individuals, who receive financial and organizational support from foreign sources, to register as foreign agents. Failure to do so may lead to severe fines and even imprisonment.

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Funding

This paper was written as part of the project funded by Le Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique (F.R.S.-FNRS).

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  1. Center for the Study of Politics (Cevipol), Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium

    Radzhana Buyantueva

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  1. Radzhana Buyantueva
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Correspondence to Radzhana Buyantueva.

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Buyantueva, R. Virtually (non)existent? The role of digital media in Russian LGBTQ+ activism. Int Polit (2024). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41311-024-00592-7

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