| Part of theLGBTQ rights series |
Recognized |
Civil unions or registered partnerships but not marriage |
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Notes
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Russia does not recognizesame-sex marriage orcivil unions. Since 2020, theRussian Constitution has explicitly outlawed same-sex marriage.[1] TheFamily Code of Russia also contains provisions forbidding same-sex marriages,[2] which theConstitutional Court upheld as constitutional in 2006.Opinion polls have shown a decline in support for same-sex marriage in Russia. This declining trend has been attributed to anti-gay state propaganda, the 2013gay propaganda law in particular, and growing anti-Western and traditionalist sentiment inRussia under Vladimir Putin.[3]
Following thedissolution of the Soviet Union, several same-sex couples attempted to marry at registry offices in Russia. The first known case occurred in 1994, but the couple were denied amarriage license and later fled to theUnited States. A highly mediatized case occurred in 2009 when a same-sex couple was denied a license inMoscow. In the case ofFedotova and Others v. Russia, theEuropean Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that theRussian Government was violatingArticle 8 of theEuropean Convention on Human Rights by not offering any form of legal recognition to same-sex relationships.[4] However, a lawyer representing the plaintiff couple in this case said it was unlikely that "Russia would implement" the ruling.[5] In addition, Russia was expelled from theCouncil of Europe on 16 March 2022 due toits invasion of Ukraine,[6] and ceased to be a party to the ECHR on 16 September 2022.[7]
Article 1(3) of theFamily Code of Russia (Russian:Семейный кодекс,romanized: Seméjnyj kódeks,pronounced[sʲɪˈmʲejnɨjˈkodɨks])[a] banssame-sex marriage, stating: "Regulation of family relations must adhere to the principle of a voluntary union between a man and a woman […]."[2] This ban was introduced in 1995. A 2006 judgement from theConstitutional Court of Russia upheld this statutory ban, and rejected claims that banning same-sex marriages was a violation of constitutional rights.[13] Previously, the family law of theSoviet Union did not contain an explicit ban on same-sex marriages.[14]
Following the2020 constitutional referendum, theRussian Constitution has explicitly banned same-sex marriage.[15]The Moscow Times reported in March 2020, after the amendments had passed unanimously in theState Duma, "The 67-year-old Putin, who has dominated Russia for 20 years, has sought to cast himself as a defender of traditional values and rally support by promoting anti-Western and conservative ideas. Putin's fourth stint in the Kremlin has seen a strong pivot to more conservative policies, with groups promoting fundamentalist Orthodox Christian views gaining more legitimacy and liberal viewpoints attacked as Moscow's relations with the West have soured."[16] The referendum, which also allowed Putin to serve as president until 2036, was criticized by international observers claiming widespread irregularities including voter coercion, multiple voting, violation of secrecy of the vote and allegations of police violence against a journalist who was present to observe.[17]
Article 72 of the Constitution now reads:[18]
The following shall be within the joint jurisdiction of the Russian Federation and constituent entities of the Russian Federation: [...] g.1) protection of the family, maternity, fatherhood and childhood; protection of marriage as a union of a male and a female; creation of conditions for decent upbringing of children in a family, and for fulfilling by children of legal age of their obligation to take care of parents; [...][b]
Russian citizens can register a same-sex marriage in countries whose laws allow it for foreigners, such asArgentina,Iceland,Norway,Portugal orSouth Africa. According to article 158 of the Family Code,marriages concluded abroad are recognized in Russia, unless explicitly outlawed by article 14 of the Code, which prohibits marriage between close relatives, and between adoptive parents and adopted children. As a result, the recognition of same-sex marriage in Russia remains a controversial issue among lawyers. Some argue that foreign same-sex marriages can be recognized in Russia.[20][21] Other jurists and authorities refer to article 167 of the Code, which states: "The norms of foreign family law do not apply if such application would contradict the fundamentals of the legal order (public order) of the Russian Federation. In this case, the legislation of the Russian Federation shall apply." Thus, they argue that same-sex marriages contracted abroad cannot be recognized in Russia.[22][23]
A test case for the recognition of foreign marriages occurred in January 2018 when Pavel Stotsko and Evgenii Voitsekhovskii, who hadmarried in Denmark on 4 January 2018, were indirectly acknowledged by Russian authorities as married on their passports.[24] However, the couple later fled Russia citing threats to their liberty and security, and the official who stamped their passports was dismissed. TheMinistry of Internal Affairs also declared the passports invalid, and a court case accusing the couple of "intentional damage to official documents" was filed in court. The police issued a statement that it would not protect the couple from homophobic vigilantes.[25] Another case occurred in June 2020, when Igor Kochetkov received a tax deduction from theFederal Taxation Service under thehealth insurance scheme of his husband Kirill Fedorov, whom hemarried in the United States in 2017.[26]
On 14 October 2020, a bill was submitted to theFederal Assembly to explicitly ban the recognition of foreign marriages which contravene the "fundamental laws of order and morality", including same-sex marriages. Thegovernment announced its opposition to the bill on 20 October, and it was not approved.[27]
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The Family Code does not explicitly ban marriages totransgender people. Thus,de facto same-sex marriages are theoretically possible in Russia if one of the spouses is transgender; marriages are only possible if both spouses are of the opposite legal sex.[28] On 7 November 2014, Irina Shumilova and Alyona Fursova were married inSaint Petersburg, exploiting this legal loophole as Shumilova had not completed as legal gender change and was still legally a man. Both spouses wore wedding dresses at the ceremony. News of the marriage was leaked to the media, despite the couple not wanting to go public. Employees of the registry office which conducted the marriage said they had "fully complied" with the marriage laws of Russia as Shumilova and Fursova were legally of the opposite sex.[29][30] A similar case had occurred a few months prior, when Alina Davis, 23, and Alison Brooks, 19, had applied to marry in a registry office onKutuzovsky Prospekt inMoscow. The application was accepted as Davis was legally a man.[31]
These two cases led MPVitaly Milonov to introduce legislation banning "inappropriate clothing" at marriages, but the bill was not passed.[32] In 2015, MPsAleksey Zhuravlyov,Anatoly Greshnevikov and Dmitri Gorovstov proposed legislation explicitly banning marriages if one of the spouses has completed or intended to complete a sex change procedure. The bill was rejected by a parliamentary committee on the basis that it would be "impossible" to organize gender checks of all newlyweds.[33] In July 2023, PresidentVladimir Putin signed into law a bill banning transgender people from modifying theirlegal gender on official documents and annulling marriages in which one spouse had completed a legal gender change.[34][35] Transgender people may still be able to marry if they have not completed a legal gender change and if their partner is of the opposite legal sex.
Same-sex marriage is constitutionally banned in all therepublics of Russia:Adygea,[36]Altai,[37]Bashkortostan,[38]Buryatia,[39]Chechnya,[40]Chuvashia,[41]Crimea,[42]Dagestan,[43]Ingushetia,[44]Kabardino-Balkaria,[45]Kalmykia,[46]Karachay-Cherkessia,[47]Karelia,[48]Khakassia,[49]Komi,[50]Mari El,[51]Mordovia,[52]North Ossetia–Alania,[53]Sakha,[54]Tatarstan,[55]Tuva,[56] andUdmurtia.[57] Their constitutions define marriage as "the voluntary union of a woman and a man". Many were amended in the aftermath of the 2020 constitutional referendum, which also modified the Russian Constitution to ban same-sex marriages. Previously, their constitutions did not contain an explicit ban on same-sex marriages and either did not address the issue or defined marriage as "based on the voluntary consent and equality of the spouses". Same-sex marriage is also banned by law in theJewish Autonomous Oblast.[58]
Marriage is a legislative power of the Russian Parliament. Republics may enact their own family laws provided they do not conflict with the federal Family Code, which is the primary source of family law in Russia. Article 1(4) of the Family Code of the Republic of Tatarstan (Russian:Семейный кодекс Республики Татарстан,romanized: Seméjnyj kódeks Respúbliki Tatarstán;Tatar:Татарстан Республикасының Гаилә кодексы,romanized: Tatarstan Respublikasınıñ Gailä kodeksı)[59] defines marriage as the "union of a man and a woman".[60] Similarly, article 1(3) of the Family Code of the Republic of Bashkortostan (Russian:Семейный кодекс Республики Башкортостан,romanized: Seméjnyj kódeks Respúbliki Baškortostán;Bashkir:Башҡортостан Республикаһының Ғаилә кодексы,romanized: Bashqortostan Respublikahınıñ Ğailə kodeksı)[61] states that "family relations are based on the voluntary union of a man and a woman".[62] The Family Code of the Donetsk People's Republic (Russian:Семейный кодекс Донецкой Народной Республики,romanized: Seméynyj kódeks Donétskoy Naródnoy Respúbliki), a contested republicannexed by Russia in 2022, also defines marriage as the "marital union of a man and a woman".[63]
In 2016, theEuropean Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that Russia had violated the rights of aKazakh man who lived with his Russian same-sex partner inYekaterinburg. The man had lived with his partner for several years but as a non-Russian national was not permitted to remain in the country indefinitely. Immigrations officials had refused to issue the plaintiff aresidence permit recognizing his stable cohabitation with a Russian citizen. While lower courts refused to issue him a permit, the ECHR ruled that their relationship was protected by the right to private life and family life guaranteed by theEuropean Convention of Human Rights.[64]
Russia does not recognizeregistered partnerships (Russian:гражданское партнёрство,graždánskoje partnjórstvo,pronounced[ɡrɐʐˈdanskəjəpɐrtˈnʲɵrstvə]),[c] which would offer a subset of the rights, benefits and obligations of marriage for opposite-sex or same-sex couples. In 2018, some lawmakers introduced legislation to recognize opposite-sex registered partnerships. However, the bill was rejected due to concerns that it could in the future lead to the recognition of same-sex unions.[66]
In 2016, the social-liberalYabloko party adopted a party platform supporting civil partnerships.[67] While running in the2018 presidential election,Ksenia Sobchak expressed her support for civil unions.[68]
Historical research has shown that during the time of theRussian Empire in the early 20th century, whenhomosexuality was still outlawed and same-sex relationships were taboo, some couples established "marriage contracts" and lived together in joint households. One couple, Nikolay Polyakov and Stepan Minin, were known to have lived together until 1933 when they were arrested in an anti-gay purge organized by Soviet authorities.[69] In 1922, Evgenia Fyodorovna, dressing as a man and having forged fake identity documents, married her partner in Saint Petersburg. Authorities soon discovered that Fyodorovna was in fact a woman and opened a criminal case against the couple, accusing them of a "crime against nature". ThePeople's Commissariat of Justice later ruled the marriage "legal, as concluded by mutual consent". AfterJoseph Stalin came to power in 1924, oppression of LGBT people increased and same-sex unions between men were re-criminalized. Despite this, attempts to register same-sex marriages continued. In 1965, a woman known only by her initials O.A. forged a passport with a male name and married her partner. Similarly, in the 1970s,Olga Krause married her partner in Saint Petersburg after having forged a fake passport.[70]
In the early 1990s, activists includingEvgenia Debryanskaya andRoman Kalinin began calling for the legalization of same-sex marriage in Russia.[71] In April 1994,Slava Mogutin and his partner Robert Filippini applied to marry at a registry office in Moscow. Although the director of the office was sympathetic, she said she could not by law perform the marriage. This made the couple the target of highly publicized criminal cases, carrying potential prison sentences of up to 7 years' imprisonment. The couple later fled and filed forpolitical asylum in theUnited States.[72]
In 2003 to 2005, there were active debates incivil society surrounding the issue of same-sex marriage. This was facilitated by its legalization in theNetherlands,Belgium,Spain, andCanada, and attempts by several Russian same-sex couples to marry at registry offices.[73]
In 2003, Denis Gogolev and Mikhail Morozov were secretly married in a church inNizhny Novgorod by a priest of theRussian Orthodox Church. The move proved controversial, and the couple were later turned away when they attempted to register their marriage at a registry office.[74] TheHoly Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church later declared the marriage "null and void".[75] In September 2005, the couple entered a "partnership agreement", drawn up by a notary, which acknowledged the couple'scohabitation and guaranteed certainde facto rights, such asproperty rights andinheritance, if the couple were to separate or if one of the partners were to die.[76] In 2004, two women inTula were married at a local registry office because theGeorgian surname of one of them seemed "masculine" to government officials.[73]
In April 2004, Eduard Murzin, a member of theState Assembly of the Republic of Bashkortostan, introduced a bill to legalize same-sex marriage inBashkortostan by removing statutory language that banned same-sex marriage in the republic. The bill was not put to a vote.[73] In January 2005, Murzin, who is heterosexual, and Eduard Mishin, editor-in-chief of a gay magazine, submitted an application to marry in theButyrsky District in Moscow. They were rejected, and subsequently filed a case challenging the refusal in court. They argued that prohibiting same-sex couples from marrying violated Article 19 of the Russian Constitution. A lower court dismissed their lawsuit on 15 February, and theMoscow City Court upheld this decision in April 2005. TheSupreme Court of Russia later rejected Murzin'sappeal, ruling that it was not authorized to modify the law.[77] In November 2006, the Constitutional Court dismissed an appeal and upheld the statutory ban on same-sex marriages as constitutional. The European Court of Human Rights dismissed the case without comment in June 2008. Murzin was not only criticized by conservatives and religious leaders, but also by LGBT activists who questioned the timing of the litigation, noting that Russia had no anti-discrimination laws at the time.[78][79] During this time, some activists inKarelia also publicly called on theLegislative Assembly of the Republic of Karelia to legalize same-sex marriage.[80]
In April 2006, Rabbi Nellie Shulman blessed the marriage of a Jewish lesbian couple in Moscow. The marriage was controversial and strongly condemned by theFederation of Jewish Communities of Russia.[81]
In April 2009, LGBT activistNikolay Alexeyev launched a campaign to legalize same-sex marriage in Russia. On 12 May 2009, a lesbian couple,Irina Fedotova and Irina Shipitko, applied for amarriage license at the Tverskoy Office for the Registration of Civil Acts in theTverskoy District in Moscow. The couple said, "We are no different from other people. […] We love Russia, we were born and live here, and we want our marriage to be recognized in Russia. […] We have love, we have happiness, we want to be together for our whole lives and we want to do this here in Russia."[82][83] The couple said they did not expect their marriage to be registered, but hoped the attempt would draw attention to the issue ofLGBT rights in Russia. The registration attempt occurred a few days beforeSlavic Pride scheduled for 16 May in Moscow.[84]
The registry office indeed refused to issue them a license, citing article 1(3) of the Family Code. The couple received a written denial from the head of the office, Svetlana Potamyshneva, who denied to register the marriage stating that "Point 3 of Article 1 of the Family Code of Russia stipulates that the regulation of family relations must adhere to the principle of a voluntary union between a man and a woman." In June 2009, the couple challenged the denial to the Tverskoy District Court, claiming that "the Russian Constitution and family laws do not prohibit same-sex marriages. In addition, family and marriage rights, including those same-sex, are guaranteed with Articles 8 and 12 of the European Human Rights Convention ratified by the Russian Federation". The court scheduledoral arguments for 26 August 2009, but later postponed them to 9 September and then to 6 October.[85][86] The District Court dismissed their case on 6 October, citing the 2006 judgement of the Constitutional Court in theMurzin case that there was no constitutional violation in denying marriage rights to same-sex couples. Alexeyev told journalists that the case would be appealed up to Supreme Court and to the European Court of Human Rights. The couple announced they would legally register their marriage inCanada and later seek its legal recognition in Russia.[87][88] The couple married as planned inToronto on 23 October in a ceremony officiated by JudgeHarvey Brownstone. Numerous media and local activists were present at the ceremony during which Fedotova and Shipitko exchanged vows. The newlywed couple received their marriage license, which they hoped would be recognized in Russia upon coming back home.[89][90][91][92][93] On 21 January 2010, the Moscow City Court upheld the decision of the Tverskoy District Court.[94][95] The couple later appealed to theEuropean Court of Human Rights (ECHR), which registered their case on 18 January 2011.
In June 2013, five same-sex couples—three male couples and twolesbian couples—applied to marry at a local registry office in Saint Petersburg. The office refused to perform the marriages citing article 1(3) of the Family Code.[96] On 26 July 2013, one of the couples, Dmitry Chunosov and Yaroslav Yevtushenko, challenged the refusal in court in theGryazinsky District,Lipetsk. On 2 August 2013, a lower court inGryazi dismissed the case, citing the 2006Murzin ruling, as well as the 2013Russian gay propaganda law and the 2010 ECHR case inSchalk and Kopf v. Austria that member states are not obliged to recognize same-sex marriages. The decision was upheld on appeal on 7 October 2013 by the Lipetsk Regional Court.[97] The other couples' cases were also dismissed; Ilmira Shayhraznova and Elena Yakovleva also in Gryazi, Pavel Lebedev and Kirill Kalugin inVoronezh, Yury Gavrikov and Maxim Lysak in Saint Petersburg, and Yana Petrova and Elena Davydova in Moscow.[98][99] Chunosov and Yevtushenko, and Shayhraznova and Yakovleva appealed their cases to the ECHR, which combined them for oral arguments withFedotova.[100]
The couples argued that Russia had violatedArticle 12 of theEuropean Convention on Human Rights, which guarantees the right to marry,Article 8, which guarantees a right to private and family life, andArticle 14, which provides a right not to be discriminated against. In July 2021, the ECHR ruled inFedotova and Others v. Russia that Russia "had an obligation to ensure respect for the applicants' private and family life by providing a legal framework allowing them to have their relationships acknowledged." It rejected the Russian Government's argument about public disapproval of same-sex unions, finding that "access to rights for a minority could not be dependent on the acceptance of the majority."[101][4] Referring to the 2020 constitutional amendments, the court stated that Russia could give same-sex couples "access to formal acknowledgment of their couples' status in a form other than marriage", which would not conflict with the "traditional understanding on marriage" in Russia.[101] A lawyer representing the plaintiff couples said it was unlikely that "Russia would implement [the judgment]".[5] TheGrand Chamber upheld the ruling on 17 January 2023. It held by fourteen votes to three that there had been a violation of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. This decision places apositive obligation on all member states of theCouncil of Europe to legalize same-sex partnerships. However, Russia was expelled from the Council of Europe on 16 March 2022 due toits invasion of Ukraine,[6] and ceased to be a party to the ECHR on 16 September 2022.[7]
While there are no records of same-sex marriages as understood from aWestern perspective being performed among theindigenous peoples of Siberia, there is evidence for identities and behaviours that may be placed on the LGBT spectrum. Many of these cultures recognizedtwo-spirit individuals who were born male but wore women's clothing and performed everyday household work and artistic handiwork which were regarded as belonging to the feminine sphere.[102] This two-spirit status allowed for marriages between two biological males or two biological females to be performed among some of these tribes. Among theAleut, an indigenous people living on theAleutian Islands, two-spirit individuals wore women's clothing and "copied all aspects of the feminine role", with such authenticity that "strangers to the tribe were not able to distinguish them from biological women". They are known in theirlanguage asayagigux̂ (айагигуӽ,pronounced[ˌajaˈɣiɣoχ]). Marriages betweenayagigux̂ andcisgender men, often a tribal chief, were commonplace, suggesting that such marriages had prestige value, "The husband regarded hisayagigux̂ as a major social accomplishment, and the family profited from association with their new wealthy in-law." Wealthy Aleut men usually maintainedpolygynous marriages, and so it is likely that theayagigux̂ were not exclusive wives, but rather part of a polygynous marital relationship.[102][103]
TheSiberian Yupiks refer to two-spirit individuals asaghnaasiq (аӷна̄сиқ,pronounced[ɑʁˈnɑːsiq]).[104] They wore women's clothing and occupied a cultural position asshamans, and were "regarded as especially powerful". Theaghnaasiq could marry either men or women.[102] Among theChukchi people, the "most powerful shamans" were "transformed men who have so thoroughly adopted the characteristics of femininity that it is believed they can give birth to spirits", known asйыркъаԓявыԓ (jyrkʺaḷâvyḷ,Chukot pronunciation:[jərkʔaɬˈjawəɬ].[105] These individuals could enter into socially condoned marriages with young girls. This is "further accompanied by a marriage to a spiritual entity that can direct and command the household vicariously through the vessel of the shaman".[106] AnthropologistVladimir Bogoraz also reported female shamans who "transformed into men", known asӄԓикэтгичеӈ (ḳḷikètgičeň,pronounced[qɬiketˈɣitʃeŋ]). "Such transformations were always on a spirit's orders and were greatly feared by the young shamans who wished to remain their biological gender.", according to Bogoraz.[107]
TheRussian Orthodox Church remains strongly opposed to same-sex marriage. In 2016,PatriarchKirill of Moscow called same-sex marriage a form of "Soviettotalitarianism", and in May 2017 likened it toNazism during a visit toKyrgyzstan.[108] In 2003, a priest secretly married a same-sex couple, but was dismissed and the marriage declared "null and void".[75]
Opinion polls have reported a decline in support for same-sex marriage in Russia. A 1995 survey by theRussian Public Opinion Research Center (RPORC;Всероссийский центр изучения общественного мнения) showed that 18% ofRussians had a positive view of same-sex marriage, while 38% had a negative one. In January 2005, a RPORC poll showed that support had decreased to 14%, while 59% were opposed.[109] A May 2005 poll from theLevada Center (Левада-Центр) showed similar numbers supporting same-sex marriage, 14.3%, while 73.4% were opposed.[110]
According to the Levada Center, support for same-sex marriage declined from 14% in 2010 to 10% in 2012, 5% in 2013 and 7% in 2015.[111] An April–July 2015 survey conducted by the RPORC showed that 8% of Russians supported same-sex marriage, while 80% were opposed. Alexei Firsov, RPORC's communications director, was quoted as saying, "It's interesting that we [Russia] are swimming against the current, strengthening, despite global trends, intolerance toward homosexual relationships. This indicator might serve as a parameter of national identification."[112] A survey by thePew Research Center, conducted between 1 July and 31 July 2015, found that 5% of Russians favored or strongly favored allowing gays and lesbians to marry, whereas 90% opposed. This was one of the lowest levels of support among the 18Eastern European countries polled, with onlyGeorgia andArmenia reporting lower levels of support, both at 3%. Support was 3% among Russians aged 35 and above, 5% among Orthodox people, 8% among irreligious people, and 9% among 18–34-year-olds.[113][114]
A June 2019 Public Opinion Foundation (Фонд Общественное Мнение) survey showed that 7% of Russian respondents supported same-sex marriage, while 85% were opposed and 8% were undecided.[115] A 2021 RPORC poll showed that support had increased to 12%, whereas 75% of Russians were opposed and 13% were undecided or did not answer.[116]
Polls have shown that support for same-sex marriage is highest among women, young people, people who have completed higher education, liberals, people with high incomes, and residents of Moscow and Saint Petersburg.[3] For instance, a 2008 Agency for Social Information (Агентство Социальной Информации) poll showed that 34% of Saint Petersburg residents supported same-sex marriage.[117] In 2011, support was 21% in both Moscow and Saint Petersburg.[3] This declining trend of support for same-sex marriage has been attributed to anti-gay state propaganda and growing anti-Western and traditionalist sentiment inRussia under Vladimir Putin.[3]
"For me, the most important proposal would fix the status of marriage as a union between a man and a woman," Pyotr Tolstoy, a vice-speaker in the Duma, told reporters
Putin's fourth stint in the Kremlin has seen a strong pivot to more conservative policies, with groups promoting fundamentalist Orthodox Christian views gaining more legitimacy and liberal viewpoints attacked as Moscow's relations with the West have soured.
