Moscow Community Center for LGBT Initiatives Officially Added to Extremist Registries

The Moscow Community Center for LGBT Initiatives has been officially included in Rosfinmonitoring’s list of terrorists and extremists, as well as the Russian Ministry of Justice’s registry of extremist organizations. The corresponding entries appeared in the agencies’ databases on September 4, 2026, triggering the enforcement of legal restrictions, including the freezing of bank accounts.

Earlier, on April 23, 2026, the Moscow City Court approved a lawsuit filed by the city’s branch of the Ministry of Justice, designating the organization as extremist and banning its activities in Russia. This decision was part of a broader campaign by Russian authorities to ban independent LGBT groups, which followed the Supreme Court’s November 2023 ruling that designated the non-existent “international LGBT public movement” as extremist.

The Moscow Community Center for LGBT+ Initiatives had been operating since 2015. The organization provided psychological and legal assistance to members of the LGBT community and hosted support groups. Following the court ruling in April, the center’s representatives stated their intention to continue working while implementing additional security measures and canceling some offline events. The inclusion of the center in these state registries marks the formal conclusion of the legal procedures aimed at banning its activities.