Russian LGBT activist Yulia Tsvetkova acquitted of charges
Feminist and LGBT activist Yulia Tsvetkova has been acquitted after being charged under Russia’s controversial “gay propaganda” law.
The 29-year old activist was accused in 2019 of distributing pornography and “LGBT propaganda” after posting body-positive drawings of the female anatomy on her blog, the “Vagina Monologues.”
Under this law, which was passed in 2013 and bans the promotion of homosexuality among people under 18, Tsvetkova could be penalized with a maximum of six years in prison.
Yulia Tsvetkova walks free
After the court handed down their verdict, Tsvetkova’s mother, Ann Khodyreva, wrote in Russian on Facebook, “ACQUITTED!!!!”
Meanwhile, a Telegram channel, We Are Julia, that shared updates of her case, said in a message: “We are rejoicing, but not yet completely.”
Tsvetkova is not out of the woods yet because the prosecution can still appeal the verdict and has ten days to do so.
Amnesty International, a human rights organization, declared in a statement: “In a country where state-sponsored homophobia and misogyny are the norm, Tsvetkova’s trial was a landmark case.”
“The Russian authorities must immediately stop targeting feminists and LGBTI activists,” they said.
The trial of Yulia Tsvetkova
When Tsvetkova was charged, nationwide protests erupted throughout Russia in solidarity with the activist. This led to dozens of people arrested.
Meanwhile, Tsvetkova was kept under house arrest in her far-eastern hometown of Komsomolsk-on-Amur for four months while authorities conducted criminal proceedings in 2019.
Charged with four counts of sharing “propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations with minors,” she was fined 125,000 roubles (or $2,125) for two of them in late 2019 and 2020.
The Moscow Times later reported that her trial– which began in 2021– was held behind closed doors as “pornographic” images was displayed as evidence.
Last June, the Kremlin included Tsvetkova in a list of activists, journalists, and non-government organizations that were accused of being “foreign agents,” a Soviet-era term of abuse for political dissidents.
The details of the ‘absurd’ case
Mediazona, a prisoners’ rights news founded by Pussy Riot’s Nadya Tolokonnikova and Masha Alekhina, noted that Tsvetkova’s “absurd case” where experts were asked to “compare images of vulvas with scenes from Sex and the City.”
Tsvetkova’s lawyer Aleksandr Pikhovkin told Forbes Life that the court had found that “the original position and context in which these drawings were included do not allow them to be considered pornographic.”
This is important, Pikhovkin said, because in the event of a guilty verdict, “the entire artistic, museum, and academic community… may be forced to put underwear on ancient sculptures.”
Among her works, Tsvetkova’s drawing, Family is Where Love is, showed two same-sex couples with children.
Speaking to the Associated Press, Khodyreva said: “Yulia has always been against pornography. Feminists are against pornography because it’s exploitation of women’s bodies.”