Russia Bans LGBT Movement, Terms It "Extremist"

Russia's Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that LGBT activists should be designated as "extremists", in a move that representatives of gay and transgender people fear will lead to arrests and prosecutions.

The presiding judge announced that he had endorsed a request from the justice ministry to ban what it called "the international LGBT social movement".

The move is part of a pattern of increasing restrictions in Russia on expressions of sexual orientation and gender identity, including laws outlawing the promotion of "non-traditional" sexual relations and banning legal or medical changes of gender.