health
December 30, 2025
A cure for wellness. Described as torture by the UN, gay conversion therapy is nevertheless thriving in contemporary Russia
It’s now over two years since Russia’s Supreme Court deemed the “international LGBT movement” an extremist organisation, effectively outlawing any form of public identification with or support for what is referred to by the Kremlin as “non-traditional sexuality”.
TL;DR
- Russia's Supreme Court declared the "international LGBT movement" extremist, leading to the prosecution of individuals for identifying as or displaying symbols of queer identity.
- A significant portion of Russians still view LGBT individuals as needing medical treatment, and the state equates threats from LGBT people to those from pedophiles and extremists.
- Numerous "rehabilitation centers" and "psychological workshops" exist in Russia, offering to "correct homosexuality" and "cure transgenderism" through isolation, medication, hypnosis, and even violence.
- State media and politicians often portray LGBT people as deviants and compare them to pedophiles, framing homosexuality as a Western weapon against Russia.
- Personal accounts from Nadya Mityagina (a lesbian) and Igor* (a trans man) detail experiences of forced "conversion therapy," psychological manipulation, and abuse within these centers.
- These centers often advertise for drug and alcohol addiction but readily "fix" LGBT individuals, employing methods like religious sermons, isolation, forced medication, and punitive psychiatric procedures.
- International organizations like the World Psychiatric Association deem attempts to change sexual orientation and gender identity unethical, and the UN equates some forced treatments to torture.
- Despite the documented abuse, Russian authorities do not publicly criticize these institutions or intervene in cases of illegal confinement.
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