TV channel fined by St. Petersburg court for showing music video with ‘LGBT propaganda’

St. Petersburg’s Vyborgsky District Court has fined the owner of the music television channel Aiva TV 500,000 rubles ($5,480) for “LGBT propaganda” for showing the music video Tak Krasivo (“So Beautiful”) by singer Sergey Lazarev, which was released in 2017.

The TV channel was found guilty of propaganda of “non-traditional sexual relationships and preferences, and gender change” on the internet (Article 6.21, part 3 of the Administrative Code).

Lazarev’s clip was published with an 18+ label. It features couples in love, including same-sex couples, as well as families. In the video, people kiss, hug, and hold hands.

In December 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law banning “LGBT propaganda,” pedophilia, and “gender change.” Following this, scenes mentioning the LGBTQ+ community began to be cut from TV shows, and courts started fining online streaming networks for “propagandizing” same-sex relationships in films hosted on their platforms.

On November 30, 2023, the Russian Supreme Court declared the so-called “international LGBT movement” “extremist” and banned it. Human rights activists have warned that the ban is likely to lead to an increase in harassment and persecution against LGBTQ+ people.

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