Russian Gay Rights Advocates Fear Closure Of NGO
The St. Petersburg-based organization Vykhod -- translated as Exit, or Coming Out -- offers support to the LGBT community in Russia, where laws against "homosexual propaganda" make it a crime to publicly promote gay rights. Leaders of the organization say they are coming under pressure -- not because of the antipropaganda legislation, but under a 2013 law that requires nongovernmental groups to register as "foreign agents" if they receive funding from abroad. Ahead of the International Day Against Homophobia, marked on May 17, RFE/RL's Russian Service spoke to representatives of Vykhod about their work and their fears that the group will be forced to shut down.