Booking.com Fined $71,000 by Russia — For Doing Exactly What an LGBTQ+ Ally Should Do
September 16, 2026When a government fines a company for telling hotels how to make LGBTQ+ guests feel welcome, it tends to say more about the government than the company. That is roughly the situation Booking.com now finds itself in.
A Moscow court has fined the travel platform six million rubles — around $71,365 — for what Russian authorities classify as "LGBT propaganda". The offending material was a newsletter sent to partner hotels, discussing how to accommodate LGBTQ+ guests during Pride Month, accompanied by an image state censors objected to.
Roskomnadzor, Russia's media and communications regulator, demanded the content be removed and then accused the company of moving too slowly, alleging a breach of the country's 2022 law banning the promotion of so-called "non-traditional relationships". Booking.com said it took the material down on 11 March, and noted that the regulator's warnings had been sent to apparently random email addresses despite the company maintaining a dedicated channel for government correspondence.
A penalty for consistency, not a scandal
The newsletter at the centre of the case wasn't a campaign aimed at the Russian market. It was guidance for partner properties on inclusive hospitality — the everyday output of a company that has spent years building LGBTQ+ inclusion into how it operates.
Booking.com launched its Travel Proud programme in 2021, offering free inclusive hospitality training to accommodation partners in partnership with LGBTQ+ training specialists HospitableMe. The training, now available in a dozen languages, helps hosts understand the specific barriers LGBTQ+ travellers face — including the small, deflating moments, like being asked at check-in whether a couple is sure they want one bed. Properties completing it earn a Travel Proud badge, and the programme passed 100,000 certified properties in 2025.
The company has also backed that work with research, surveying more than 13,300 LGBTQ+ travellers across 19 countries in its most recent study, and partnering with organisations including the International LGBTQ+ Travel Association and Le Refuge. It was the main sponsor of Pride Amsterdam, including this summer's WorldPride.
The Moscow fine is, in other words, a penalty for consistency: for saying the same thing to partners everywhere rather than editing its values by market.
The context in Russia
The case sits inside a far broader crackdown. Russia's Supreme Court has designated the "international LGBT movement" an extremist organisation — a label normally reserved for terrorist groups — and the Russian LGBT Network has been branded extremist too. Authorities have since raided LGBTQ+ venues, banned pro-LGBTQ+ nonprofits, and fined, jailed or deported people over same-sex relationships, gender expression or rainbow symbols. The same Moscow court fined several social media platforms roughly $41,629 each earlier that week, with TikTok penalised over videos said to promote "non-traditional relationships".
Why it matters for LGBTQ+ professionals
Employers talk a lot about inclusion when it is comfortable. The real test is what happens when it carries a cost — regulatory, commercial or reputational. Plenty of companies have quietly toned down LGBTQ+ messaging in recent years to avoid friction, and research shows employees notice: 80% of LGBTQ+ workers say they trust an employer less when it goes quiet on inclusion, and 68% would consider leaving one that stopped supporting them.
A fine is not a badge of honour, and no company welcomes one. But the shape of this case — an inclusive communication to international partners, penalised by a state hostile to LGBTQ+ people — is a useful marker of what an employer's values are actually worth in practice.
Booking.com is a proud myGwork partner and an inclusive employer recruiting LGBTQ+ talent across its global teams. You can explore their culture, benefits and employee networks on their inclusive employer profile, and browse their current job openings on myGwork.