“You may carry on with your flings.” Inside the police raid on a Moscow gay club

4 December 2023, 20:33

Photo: AP

In the early hours of December 2, at least three gay clubs in Moscow were reportedly targeted by police raids. The venues involved were Secret, the Mono bar, and the Hunters Party event at Kinky Rouge. Reports also mentioned, without detail, visits by law enforcement to gay saunas in Moscow. An anonymous attendee of the Hunters Party shared their experience of the police raid with Mediazona.

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When I arrived, everything seemed normal. After about 10–15 minutes of sitting near the exit, I noticed police officers entering the venue. I immediately sensed trouble and knew it was time to leave, so I ran to the cloakroom to get my jacket. As I approached the exit, I found the door was locked. We were told we couldn’t leave and had to wait.

For about 30 minutes, we waited without any explanation as to why. A large crowd gathered. Police arrived with dogs and began searching the place. They didn't explain anything to us. The whole time, everyone was scared because the situation was so unclear.

When the door finally opened a bit, I saw a police bus outside. Everyone thought we were going to be taken away. After a long wait, they let us out one by one, took photos of our IDs, and then let us go. I just ran away from there.

Those who stayed until the end were told, and I quote, “you may carry on with your flings.” It was a very strange comment. They explained nothing to us.

I think it’s nonsense [to claim that these were drug raids]. They could have just used that as a pretext. But why target these places all over Moscow? It’s strange. No, [I’ve never experienced such raids before]. It all started after this law was passed. Before that, things were calm.

What are the human rights activists and party organizers saying?

Lawyers from the Vykhod LGBT group believe it was a “routine drug raid” and “unlikely to be connected with the recent legal changes,” Alexander Voronov, the group's executive director, told Mediazona. “Regular raids like this happen in these bars. To exert additional pressure because of a court decision that hasn't yet taken effect, and hasn’t been used to charge anyone yet—that’s extra work they’re unlikely to want to do (yet),” he said.

The organizers of the Hunters Party issued a statement on their VK page on the morning of December 4 about the raid. They noted that “everything was handled delicately and correctly,” with only two foreigners detained for document checks before being released. “There were certain questions in light of the recent laws and the Supreme Court’s decision. We passed the check objectively, and legally there are no complaints against us, no reports were made,” the post read. The organizers added, “Half-naked men at a private event is their personal life, not subject to the law.” The post was accompanied by an image of the Russian flag and concluded with: “We are the domestic gay community; we don’t have a Western ideology or our own flag, we are part of Russian society, we are not enemies of our country or our government 🇷🇺 🙏.”

The Mono bar’s Telegram channel claimed that the law enforcement didn’t visit them, criticizing “journo hacks.” On the evening of December 1, they announced the cancellation of a concert by Olga Buzova, a prominent pop star, but then deleted the message. Ostorozhno, Moskva Telegram channel, citing eyewitnesses, reported that patrons were warned in advance about a possible raid: “It was a normal party, then the owner came out and said that within an hour, people in uniforms would arrive due to the recent law. Within 20 minutes, the dance floor began to empty.”

The owners of the Secret club have not made any public statements following the raid.

Editor: Egor Skovoroda

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