Is gay marriage legal in Russia?

A strange and terrifying new era has arrived in United States politics, one in which our allies are disparaged and villainized while actual dictators are celebrated.

Donald Trump made his priorities clear during a mortifying press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in late February, when he belittled and berated the same man he’s called a “dictator” for refusing to bow to Russia. Keep in mind here that Ukraine has been defending its lands and its people for years now, after Russia launched an invasion in February of 2022.

The details of this Russian attack and Ukraine’s subsequent defense against it seem to be lost on America’s current president, and his narrative around the two countries grows more concerning by the day. He’s increasingly working to undermine national concerns over Russian influence, his Cabinet is stacked with pro-Russian figures, and he makes his ties to Putin more obvious every day.

With Russia becoming a new go-to talking point, it’s no wonder people have questions about everything from the nation’s electoral process to its freedoms. Its little wonder that the Russian people don’t enjoy the same freedoms or human rights that we Americans do, but you may be surprised by how few rights the LGBTQ+ community has in Mother Russia.

Russia’s restrictive gay marriage laws

Russia has a long and sordid history where its LGBTQ+ community is concerned, and it goes much farther back than the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. To start with: No, gay marriage is not legal in Russia. It’s actually expressly banned, thanks to a 1995 law that was upheld in 2006 and amended in 2020. The ban states that “family relations must adhere to the principle of a voluntary union between a man and a woman.”

That makes Russia’s current laws surrounding gay marriage more restrictive than those of the Soviet Union, which is quite a feat. Putin, much like Republicans on our side of the world, has frequently positioned himself as a champion of so-called “family values,” which frequently puts him in opposition to the advancement of LGBTQ+ rights.

Much like the increasing attacks we’re seeing toward members of the community stateside, Putin’s government has frequently targeted the LGBTQ+ community via laws centered around speech or “propaganda.” Among the most high-profile of these is a 2013 law that banned the spread of supposed “propaganda of non-traditional sexual relationships” to minors, which essentially banned any discussion or publication of gay materials, stories, or information.

That also made it much easier to punish the LGBTQ+ community and its supporters, by wielding the law as a means to penalize anything that doesn’t suit a careful, exclusionary narrative. It comes with high fines for something as simple as spreading key information on the LGBTQ+ community and even foreigners are at risk of punishment — and even jail time — if they slip up.

Russia is not the most restrictive country in the world where it comes to LGBTQ+ rights, but it’s far from the best. Russia — particularly Putin’s Russia — is extremely restrictive where same-sex relationships are concerned, and that’s not likely to improve any time soon.