Coming Out, a Russian LGBTQI+ rights organization, has been banned as "extremist"

On March 3, 2026, the St. Petersburg Regional Court banned Coming Out, a Russian LGBTQI+ rights civil society organization, as "extremist." The case, which was opened by the Russian Ministry of Justice last month, has been classified. The trial was closed to journalists and details of the case have not been released.

The case against Coming Out is a continuation of a pattern that frames LGBTQI+ activism as "extremism," in which defending queer rights is presented as a crime and LGBTQI+ identity as a threat to state security. The fact that the trial was not held in public and the case was kept secret means that neither the content of the charges nor the legal basis for the decision are open to public debate.

Coming Out is the first LGBTQI+ organization to face this status after the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation declared the "international LGBTI+ movement" extremist in 2023. The 2023 ruling effectively banned all open LGBTQI+ activism. Since 2022, any promotion of "non-traditional sexual relations" has been banned, LGBTQI+ websites, podcasts, and publications have been blocked, and legal gender reassignment for trans people is prohibited by law. Similar cases have been filed against two other LGBTQI+ rights organizations in St. Petersburg and Samara, and the courts are expected to rule on them soon. Coming Out has said that it will continue to support LGBTQI+ people living in Russia despite the ban, noting in a statement that "the community is stronger than any kind of targeting."

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