Putin Says LGBTQ Community Is Part of Russian Society

Russian President Vladimir Putin said the LGBTQ community is part of society while Russian authorities asked the Supreme Court to declare the LGBTQ ’movement’ extremist. Speaking at the cultural forum in St. Petersburg on Friday, Putin said it’s required to show the life of the LGBTQ community when competing at cultural contests in Western countries, but added that they have the right to do so. “This is also part of society, this is what people live for. It’s only bad if they are the only ones to win the competition,“ Putin said. On the same day, the Russian Justice Ministry said it has filed a lawsuit with the nation’s Supreme Court to outlaw the LGBTQ “international public movement” as extremist, the latest crippling blow against the already beleaguered LGBTQ community in the increasingly conservative country. The ministry said in an online statement announcing the lawsuit that authorities have identified “signs and manifestations of extremist natu