Russian Activist Fined for “Gay Propaganda” Could Go to Prison Over Drawings
Above: A man (L) takes away a rainbow flag as a policeman detain gay rights activists during their protest in central Moscow on May 31, 2014.
A Russian activist has been fined under the country's anti-gay "propaganda" law for running LGBTQ groups on social media and is facing a possible prison sentence on pornography charges over her drawings depicting female empowerment.
On December 11, authorities levied a fine of 50,000 rubles ($780) against Yulia Tsvetkova for being the administrator of two LGBTQ groups, according to Amnesty International. The organization is calling for all charges against the 26 year-old to be dropped, as well as the fine against her annulled. It noted that both groups were marked as being only for those 18-and-up, therefore not running afoul of the country's prohibition against informing minors of the existence of homosexuality.
Police officers detain a gay rights activist during an unauthorized protest against the gay "propaganda law" outside the headquarters of the Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee in central Moscow on September 25, 2013.
In addition to being punished with the fine, Tsvetkova has been placed on house arrest and is facing a possible prison sentence of up to six years over body positive drawings. According to a petition also calling for charges against the activist and theater director to be dropped—which has been signed by over 30,000 people—those drawings included "slogans that begin with the phrase 'Living women have...' and end with the words 'And this is normal!'"
"Thus, the author of the drawings shows that living women have body hair, fat, menstruation, wrinkles and gray hair, muscles, imperfect skin," the petition reads.
Amnesty International reports that back in March Tsvetkova was forced to stop working with a youth amateur theater group after police launched an investigation into the anti-discrimination and anti-bullying play she was staging, called Blue and Pink.
"Once again, a Russian human rights activist pays a heavy price—in every sense—for simply spreading the ideals of inclusiveness, tolerance and women’s empowerment," the organization said in a statement.
"Yulia is the latest target of a long-running discriminatory and intensely homophobic campaign. She has suffered one blow after another, having been arbitrarily detained, interrogated and intimidated on multiple occasions. Her theatrical and creative initiatives have been stifled by law enforcement officers, and her drawings now judged as pornographic."