Police Raid Moscow Gay Bars After Court Deems LGBTQ+ Movement 'Extremist'

FILE — Gay rights activists carry rainbow flags as they march during a May Day rally in St. Petersburg, Russia, May 1, 2013. Russia’s Supreme Court on Nov. 30, 2023, effectively outlawed LGBTQ+ activism in the increasingly conservative country. FILE - A gay rights activist protests at Dvortsovaya (Palace) Square in St. Petersburg, Russia, Aug. 2, 2015.

Russian security forces raided gay clubs and bars across Moscow Friday night, less than 48 hours after the country's top court banned what it called the "global LGBTQ+ movement" as an extremist organization.