{"id":121903,"date":"2026-02-03T22:13:19","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T22:13:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/121903\/"},"modified":"2026-02-03T22:13:19","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T22:13:19","slug":"russian-man-fined-for-destroying-family-values-after-posting-old-photo-of-queen-in-drag","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/121903\/","title":{"rendered":"Russian man fined for “destroying family values” after posting old photo of Queen in drag"},"content":{"rendered":"

A 22-year-old Russian man has been fined under the country\u2019s \u201cLGBT Propaganda\u201d law for posting a photo on social media showing members of the rock band Queen dressed in drag.<\/p>\n

David Gevondyan lost his appeal to the Moscow City Court, which declared the photograph \u2013 a still from the music video for the song I Want to Break Free \u2013 showed a \u201cpositive assessment of the rationale for non-traditional sexual relations, characterized as natural.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The court ruled his actions \u201cdistort\u201d the concept of a heterosexual relationship and are akin to \u201cdestroying family values.\u201d <\/p>\n

The photo in question (shown on Instagram below) was part of a promo shoot for the music video. It shows the four band members posing by a stairwell inside a feminine home.<\/p>\n

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Under Russian law, so-called LGBTQ+ \u201cpropaganda\u201d has been banned in the presence of minors since 2013. In late 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed legislation expanding the 2013 law to effectively outlaw any public expression of LGBTQ+ life in the country. And in 2023, Russia\u2019s Supreme Court\u00a0declared the \u201cinternational LGBT social movement\u201d an \u201cextremist organization.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cPublic approval and the promotion of the attractiveness of non-traditional sexual relations is dangerous not only for children and young people who are not yet capable of critical thinking, but also for society as a whole,\u201d the ruling stated, as reported<\/a> by Russia\u2019s Verstka Media, \u201cas it poses a threat to the country\u2019s demographic growth and economic development.\u201d<\/p>\n

The court also slammed Gevondyan for having previously posted photos of men in skirts and two men kissing. <\/p>\n

Gevondyan has been fined for three administrative offenses. He has also been charged with a fourth, \u201cdisplaying extremist symbols,\u201d after displaying a Ukrainian Insurgent Army flag.<\/p>\n

Last year, independent news outlet\u00a0Meduza\u00a0reported that Russian officials and state-aligned media regularly describe Russia\u2019s LGBTQ+ community as a network of \u201cparamilitary groups\u201d calling for an \u201copen gender war,\u201d who engage in \u201cdehumanization\u201d and \u201cdevil worship.\u201d<\/p>\n

The country has been cracking down on so-called \u201cLGBT propaganda\u201d as of late. In January, authorities charged executives<\/a> at some of the country\u2019s top streaming services with violating the law, which some have posited is connected to the success of gay hockey romance Heated Rivalry in the country.<\/p>\n

Also in January, a young adult-focused imprint of Russia\u2019s largest book publisher, Eksmo, shut down<\/a> after being targeted by the government. <\/p>\n

And in December, Russian officials \u00a0blocked access<\/a> to U.S. children\u2019s online gaming platform Roblox, claiming that it is \u201crife with inappropriate content that can negatively impact the spiritual and moral development of children.\u201d<\/p>\n

Subscribe to the\u00a0LGBTQ Nation newsletter<\/a>\u00a0and be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A 22-year-old Russian man has been fined under the country\u2019s \u201cLGBT Propaganda\u201d law for posting a photo on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":121904,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[43412,53447,9,24,63,41161,666,122,124,123,9045],"class_list":{"0":"post-121903","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-queens","8":"tag-law-policy","9":"tag-lgbt-propaganda-laws","10":"tag-new-york","11":"tag-new-york-city","12":"tag-nyc","13":"tag-post","14":"tag-queen","15":"tag-queens","16":"tag-queens-headlines","17":"tag-queens-news","18":"tag-russia"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121903","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=121903"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121903\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/121904"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=121903"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=121903"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=121903"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}