Russia is planning an electronic registry of LGBTQ+ citizens

According to Meduza, an independent Russian news outlet, Russia's Interior Ministry is planning a comprehensive electronic database to monitor LGBTQ+ individuals in the country. This revelation came after anonymous sources from the ministry disclosed that discussions about the plan began last year when Russia’s Supreme Court, supported by President Vladimir Putin, declared the “international LGBT movement” an “extremist organization.”

According to ‘LGBTQ Nation’, the proposed database is intended to be an extensive system for tracking members of the LGBTQ+ community, as reported by these sources. Dmitry Chukreyev, a Civic Chamber official in Yekaterinburg, Russia’s fourth-largest city, confirmed these plans. He mentioned that police had been maintaining informal lists of LGBTQ+ individuals since the Supreme Court’s decision.

In 2024, an investigation by the independent news outlet Current Time and human rights organisation Sphere revealed that at least 42 raids have been conducted on LGBTQ+-friendly locations across Russia. These raids often involve beatings, forced confinement, and humiliations based on sexual and gender identities.

Russian officials and state-aligned media often depict the country’s LGBTQ+ community as “paramilitary groups” engaging in an “open gender war,” accused of “dehumanization” and “devil worship.” Officials credit security forces for suppressing what they consider anti-state activities.

These raids not only intimidate the broader queer community and lead to the closure of several venues but also provide security officials with information useful for developing the electronic LGBTQ+ registry.

An employee from a queer venue in Siberia shared with Meduza that security forces had copied their entire reservation database, acquiring details on hundreds of clients. During a raid at the Eden club in Chelyabinsk, visitors’ fingerprints and mouth swabs were collected, and at Orenburg's Pose club, both employees and patrons were coerced into recording their addresses on camera.

At a house party in Leningrad Oblast, guests were forced to hand over their passports and unlock their phones; refusal led to collective punishment of others, forcing them to squat.

Human rights activists point out that these raids are also aimed at outing LGBTQ+ officials. The organiser of a queer-friendly event in the Urals reported that police were trying to apprehend “deputies and other significant individuals” during their raid.

Despite the continued collection of data, a fully operational LGBTQ+ registry has been delayed due to Putin’s focus on expanding Greater Russia through the war in Ukraine. The conflict pulls resources from the police, who would otherwise be targeting members of the “international LGBT movement.”

Nonetheless, the raids persist with notable outcomes. An employee noted that a raid at a restaurant and club in Gorno-Altaysk last year provided data on 80 patrons and staff. Security forces repeatedly stated during the raid, “We know all of you now.”