1917 - 1933

 

Following the Russian Revolution of 1917, the Communist Party abolished all the Tsarist laws, which effectively meant a legalisation of homosexuality. However, this only applied to Russia itself, and homosexuality remained illegal in other nations of the Soviet Union, such as Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. 

 

However, in the early 1930s, LGBT themes faced government censorship and homosexuality was officially labelled a disease.

 

 

1933 - 1991

 

1933 - Article 121 prohibits only male homosexuality for the whole Soviet Union, with up to five years of hard labor in prison. During the Soviet regime, Western observers believed that between 800 to 1,000 men were imprisoned each year under this law. 

 

The motives behind Article 121 is still an issue of some dispute. The most reasonable theories are that homosexuality was being linked to paedophilia, facism and elitsm in the Stalin era.  

 

1953 - Nikita Khrushchev proceeded to liberalise the Stalin era laws, but the anti-gay criminal law remained. They believed homosexuality that occurred in the prison environment would spread into the general population as they released many Stalin-era prisoners.

 

1964 - A Soviet sex manual instructed: "With all the tricks at their disposal, homosexuals seek out and win the confidence of youngsters. Then they proceed to act. Do not under any circumstances allow them to touch you. Such people should be immediately reported to the administrative organs so that they can be removed from society.”

 

1973 - The Textbook of Soviet Criminal Law criticises article 121 and calls for its repeal.

 

1984 - A group of Russian gay men met and attempted to organise an official gay rights organisation, only to be quickly shut down by the KGB.

 

1989 - A poll conducted reports that homosexuals were the most hated group in Russian society and that 30 percent of those polled felt that homosexuals should be liquidated. 

 

A gay rights organisation in Moscow led by Yevgeniya Debryanskaya was permitted to exist, with Roman Kalinin given permission to publish a gay newspaper, "Tema".

 

1991 - A public opinion poll conducted in Chelyabinsk finds that 30 percent of the respondents aged 16 to 30 years old felt that homosexuals should be "isolated from society," 5 percent felt they should be "liquidated," 60 percent had a "negative" attitude toward gay people and 5 percent labelled their sexual orientation "unfortunate."

 

 

1991 - 2014

 

1993 - Article 121 is repealed and Homosexual acts between consenting males were legalised.

 

However, there have been reports that by 13 August 1993, "not all persons serving sentences under the old legislation have been released from jail", and there have been "cases of homosexuals being re-sentenced and kept in jail, cases of imprisoned homosexuals who cannot be located and of missing files".

 

1996 - Russian LGBT human rights organisation called "Triangle" was formed, with several new LGBT themed publications and local organisations arising in light of the fall of the Soviet Union. However, many of these organisations, including "Triangle", folded due to lack of funding as well as legal and social harassment.

 

1999 - Homosexuality was formally removed from the list of Russian mental disorders. 

 

2003 - A new statute about military and medical expertise does not forbid homosexuals from serving in the military; however they should keep their sexuality secret.

 

2005 - LGBT Human Rights Project Gayrussia.ru was founded by Nikolai Alekseev to fight discriminations on the basis of sexual orientation and raise awareness of LGBT issues in Russia. He also launched the Moscow Pride initiative which has been organised every year since May 2006.

 

2006 - Grand Mufti Talgat Tadzhuddin was quoted as saying about Moscow Pride marchers, "If they come out on to the streets anyway they should be flogged. Any normal person would do that – Muslims and Orthodox Christians alike". Similar comments were made by one of Russia's Chief Rabbis, Berl Lazar, who joined Tadzhuddin in condemning the march, saying that it "would be a blow for morality".

 

Russian LGBT network is founded.

 

Protesters blockade some popular gay clubs in Moscow. After initial complaints that police had failed to intervene, later blockade attempts were met with arrests.

 

In May, a gay rights forum was held in Moscow. An accompanying march was banned. Some activists, head of them Nikolai Alekseev tried to march despite the ban and attempted to lay flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. This act and the presence of non-Russian activists aroused a nationalist reaction in addition to a religious condemnation of homosexuality, leading to the presence of both neo-Nazi groups and Orthodox protesters threatening the gay activists. Anti-march protesters beat the marchers, and about 50 marchers and 20 protesters were arrested when riot police moved in to break up the conflict.

 

2007 - Moscow Pride is banned again by the former Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov, who had earlier branded it as "satanic". For the second year running it degenerated into violent clashes with anti-gay protestors. For the second time police failed to protect gay rights activists.

 

2009 - The Russian LGBT Network and the Moscow Helsinki Group publish a paper titled The situation for lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgendered people in Russian Federation. The 100-page paper contains the analysis of relevant Russian laws and also assembles and generalises specific instances of infringement of rights and discrimination.

 

Moscow Pride, which was timed to coincide with Moscow's hosting of the 2009 Eurovision song contest finals, was broken up by police, with all 30 participants – including British human rights activist Peter Tatchell arrested.

 

2010 - Russia is fined by the European Court of Human Rights for discriminating against gays by refusing to approve pride parades.

 

2012 - An attempt to organise a Pride House at the 2014 Winter Olympics is struck down by the Ministry of Justice, which refused to approve the registration of the NGO set up to run it on the basis of the Pride House inciting "propaganda of non-traditional sexual orientation which can undermine the security of the Russian society and the state, provoke social-religious hatred, which is the feature of the extremist character of the activity"

 

In August, Moscow upholds a ruling blocking Nikolay Alexeyev's request for permission to organise Moscow Pride for the next 100 years, citing the possibility of public disorder.

 

June 2013 - Russia passed an anti-LGBT propaganda law; banning the distribution of "propaganda of non-traditional sexual relationships" to minors.