Moscow Police Detain 50+ People After Gay Nightclub Raids
The raids, conducted under the guise of combating "drug trafficking," followed complaints from neighbors about "all sorts of naughty things."
Moscow police raided two gay nightclubs in the city, detaining over 50 people as part of an ongoing crackdown against LGBTQ visibility.
According to the pro-Russian government Telegram channels MSK1 and SHOT, one of the raids was carried out against the Central Station nightclub in downtown Moscow under the auspices of investigating alleged “drug trafficking.”
Central Station was holding an event marking National Coming Out Day when police raided the venue around 1 a.m. About 200 people were inside at the time.
Videos from the club show police officers forcing people to lie on the ground with their hands behind their heads or stand with their hands against the wall and violently frisking them.
Glass fragments from broken glasses were scattered everywhere, and alcohol was spilled on the floor. Officers from the Ministry of Internal Affairs confiscated documents and detained around 50 people at the local police station, reports Novaya Gazeta.
Ministry officers also reportedly raided Three Monkeys, another central Moscow LGBTQ nightclub operated by the owners of Central Station. It’s unclear how many patrons were detained at Three Monkeys, or where they were taken.
According to a separate post from SHOT, the venues were raided following “civilian complaints,” with Moscow residents allegedly reporting Three Monkeys for “all sorts of naughty things.”
Alleged activity inside the club included “half-naked men dressed as women” jumping around the stage, and male visitors kissing each other. Some civilians claimed to have reported those actions to police, who did nothing to remedy the situation.
Local residents also reportedly were outraged by drag queens at both venues openly joking about airborne troops and the Russian government’s “special military operation,” referring to its invasion of Ukraine, according to a third pro-government Telegram channel, Mash.
In many right-wing Russian circles, LGBTQ identity is associated with the West, and therefore LGBTQ people are perceived as being influenced by “propaganda” from outside the country, allegedly making them more susceptible to embracing anti-government attitudes. Jokes about the war are often viewed as “discrediting” Russia’s military and its service members.
This is not the first time that Central Station has been targeted by police.
After Russia introduced its law banning LGBTQ “propaganda” from taking place around children in 2013, Central Station was forced to close briefly following several violent incidents, including a shooting, water and gas attacks, and vandalism. The club’s St. Petersburg location was forced to close last year, reports Novaya Gazeta.
Raids of LGBTQ nightclubs and other venues, and arrests of their owners, often under the guise of combating “drug trafficking,” have increased after the Russian Supreme Court declared the “international LGBT social movement” to be an “extremist” organization.
Prior to that decision, Russian lawmakers had expanded the anti-LGBTQ “propaganda” law to prohibit depictions of LGBTQ identity around any citizen, including adults.
The original law, as well as the expanded version, were already being used to shut down pro-LGBTQ organizations, block online access to pro-LGBTQ or Western media outlets, and ban LGBTQ-specific events.
In 2018, the European Court of Rights found that the original law, and the way it was enforced, was discriminatory and infringed on individual freedoms, including the right to freedom of association.
Since the Supreme Court’s decision, police have taken it upon themselves to prosecute any form of communication, including speech and art, that is seen as “promoting” homosexuality or flaunting LGBTQ identity.
They have been assisted by individuals with pro-government views, who have been all too happy to inform on their neighbors.
Examples of behaviors that have been flagged under the law include a woman who was prosecuted for wearing rainbow-colored earrings, another who was prosecuted for displaying a rainbow Pride flag on her Instagram account, and a third fined for displaying a Pride flag in the window of her house.
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