Recognition of same-sex unions in Russia

[5] In addition, Russia was expelled from the Council of Europe on 16 March 2022 due to its invasion of Ukraine,[6] and ceased to be a party to the ECHR on 16 September 2022.

[10] The Moscow Times reported in March 2020, after the amendments had passed unanimously in the State Duma, "The 67-year-old Putin, who has dominated Russia for 20 years, has sought to cast himself as a defender of traditional values and rally support by promoting anti-Western and conservative ideas.

Putin's fourth stint in the Kremlin has seen a strong pivot to more conservative policies, with groups promoting fundamentalist Orthodox Christian views gaining more legitimacy and liberal viewpoints attacked as Moscow's relations with the West have soured.

[12] Russian citizens can register a same-sex marriage in countries whose laws allow it for foreigners, such as Argentina, Iceland, Norway, Portugal or South Africa.

[18] Another case occurred in June 2020, when Igor Kochetkov received a tax deduction from the Federal Taxation Service under the health insurance scheme of his husband Kirill Fedorov, whom he married in the United States in 2017.

[22][23] A similar case had occurred a few months prior, when Alina Davis, 23, and Alison Brooks, 19, had applied to marry in a registry office on Kutuzovsky Prospekt in Moscow.

[24] These two cases led MP Vitaly Milonov to introduce legislation banning "inappropriate clothing" at marriages, but the bill was not passed.

Same-sex marriage is constitutionally banned in all the republics of Russia: Adygea,[29] Altai,[30] Bashkortostan,[31] Buryatia,[32] Chechnya,[33] Chuvashia,[34] Crimea,[35] Dagestan,[36] Ingushetia,[37] Kabardino-Balkaria,[38] Kalmykia,[39] Karachay-Cherkessia,[40] Karelia,[41] Khakassia,[42] Komi,[43] Mari El,[44] Mordovia,[45] North Ossetia–Alania,[46] Sakha,[47] Tatarstan,[48] Tuva,[49] and Udmurtia.

[51] Article 1(4) of the Family Code of the Republic of Tatarstan (Russian: Семейный кодекс Республики Татарстан, Seméjnyj kódeks Respúbliki Tatarstán; Tatar: Татарстан Республикасының Гаилә Кодексы,[52] Tatarstan Respublikasınıñ Gaylä Kodeksı, pronounced [tɑtɑɾsˈtɑn ɾe̞sˈpublikɑsɤ̞nɤ̞ŋ gɑjˈlæ ˈkʊde̞ksɤ̞]) defines marriage as the "union of a man and a woman".

[53] Article 1(3) of the Family Code of the Republic of Bashkortostan (Russian: Семейный кодекс Республики Башкортостан, Seméjnyj kódeks Respúbliki Baškortostán; Bashkir: Башҡортостан Республикаһының Ғаилә Кодексына,[54] Bashqortostan Respublikahınıñ Ğailə Kodeksına, pronounced [bɑʂqʊrtʊsˈtɑn rɪsˈpublɪkɑhɯnɯɴ ʁɑjˈlæ ˈkodeksɯnɑ]) similarly states that "family relations are based on the voluntary union of a man and a woman".

Immigrations officials had refused to issue the plaintiff a residence permit recognizing his stable cohabitation with a Russian citizen.

[57] Russia does not recognize registered partnerships (Russian: гражданское партнёрство, graždánskoje partnjórstvo, pronounced [ɡrɐʐˈdanskəjə pɐrt⁽ʲ⁾ˈnʲɵrstvə]),[a] which would offer a subset of the rights, benefits and obligations of marriage for opposite-sex or same-sex couples.

[82] Historical research has shown that during the time of the Russian Empire in the early 20th century, when homosexuality was still outlawed and same-sex relationships were taboo, some couples established "marriage contracts" and lived together in joint households.

[84] In the early 1990s, activists including Evgenia Debryanskaya and Roman Kalinin began calling for the legalization of same-sex marriage in Russia.

This made the couple the target of highly publicized criminal cases, carrying potential prison sentences of up to 7 years' imprisonment.

This was facilitated by its legalization in the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, and Canada, and attempts by several Russian same-sex couples to marry at registry offices.

[87] In January 2005, Murzin, who is heterosexual, and Eduard Mishin, editor-in-chief of a gay magazine, submitted an application to marry in the Butyrsky District in Moscow.

"[95][96] The couple said they did not expect their marriage to be registered, but hoped the attempt would draw attention to the issue of LGBT rights in Russia.

In June 2009, the couple challenged the denial to the Tverskoy District Court, claiming that "the Russian Constitution and family laws do not prohibit same-sex marriages.

In July 2021, the ECHR ruled in Fedotova and Others v. Russia that Russia "had an obligation to ensure respect for the applicants' private and family life by providing a legal framework allowing them to have their relationships acknowledged," and it rejected the Russian Government's argument about public disapproval of same-sex unions, finding that "access to rights for a minority could not be dependent on the acceptance of the majority.

However, Russia was expelled from the Council of Europe on 16 March 2022 due to its invasion of Ukraine,[6] and ceased to be a party to the ECHR on 16 September 2022.

[110] On 26 July 2013, one of the couples, Dmitry Chunosov and Yaroslav Yevtushenko, challenged the refusal in court in the Gryazinsky District, Lipetsk where they lived.

In 2016, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow called same-sex marriage a form of "Soviet totalitarianism", and in May 2017 likened it to Nazism during a visit to Kyrgyzstan.

[89] While there are no records of same-sex marriages as understood from a Western perspective being performed among the indigenous peoples of Siberia, there is evidence for identities and behaviours that may be placed on the LGBT spectrum.

Many of these cultures recognized two-spirit individuals who were born male but wore women's clothing and performed everyday household work and artistic handiwork which were regarded as belonging to the feminine sphere.

[116] Among the Chukchi people, the "most powerful shamans" were "transformed men who have so thoroughly adopted the characteristics of femininity that it is believed they can give birth to spirits", known as йыркъаԓявыԓ (jyrkʺaḷâvyḷ, Chukot pronunciation: [jərkʔaɬˈjawəɬ].

Alexei Firsov, RPORC's communications director, was quoted as saying, "It's interesting that we [Russia] are swimming against the current, strengthening, despite global trends, intolerance toward homosexual relationships.

[127][128] A June 2019 Public Opinion Foundation (Фонд Общественное Мнение) survey showed that 7% of Russian respondents supported same-sex marriage, while 85% were opposed and 8% were undecided.

[3] For instance, a 2008 Agency for Social Information (Агентство Социальной Информации) poll showed that 34% of Saint Petersburg residents supported same-sex marriage.

[3] This declining trend of support for same-sex marriage has been attributed to anti-gay state propaganda and growing anti-Western and traditionalist sentiment in Russia under Vladimir Putin.