In Russia, the LGBTQIA+ community faces a grim reality with the proliferation of private conversion therapy centers. Following a court ruling branding the international LGBT movement as an “extremist” ideology, advocacy groups like DELO LGBT+ have been forced to shut down. This closure is alarming, considering they were aiding dozens monthly who faced threats of being sent to these centers.
A Harrowing Experience in the Name of ‘Conversion’
Accounts from LGBTQIA+ Russians reveal the disturbing practices within these centers. A 23-year-old transgender non-binary individual recounts being misled into a remote Siberian center, enduring physical abuse, extreme conditions, and forced labor. Another transgender woman speaks of her 21-month ordeal across multiple centers, where she faced medication, threats, and the false narrative of LGBTQIA+ identity being an addiction.
A Continuing Cycle of Abuse
These stories are not isolated incidents. Historical accounts from the Russian republic of Chechnya in 2017 and 2019 show over 150 LGBTQIA+ individuals forcibly taken into camps for conversion efforts, many still missing. This pattern underscores the systemic abuse and discrimination facing the LGBTQIA+ community in Russia, calling for global awareness and action.