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About 20 People Detained At Russian Bar Following Drag Performance


(illustrative photo)
(illustrative photo)

Russian police detained 20 people at a Siberian bar where the evening's entertainment included drag performances, a local Telegram channel reported.

Police arrived at Elton in Krasnoyarsk on December 30 following complaints about men dancing slowly and kissing each other, according to KrasMash.

An eyewitness told the Prospekt Mira outlet that customers became upset after two men began hugging and kissing. Police later released all those detained.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has increasingly restricted the rights and freedoms of people with so-called "nontraditional" sexual relations as he caters to his conservative base.

Russia's Supreme Court last month banned the "international LGBT movement" and labelled it an extremist organization, opening the door to greater law enforcement pressure on the gay community.

Days after the ruling, police carried out raids at several gay venues in Moscow, local media reported at the time.

Russian Riot Police Raid Gay Club Amid Crackdown On 'LGBT Movement'
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The owners of Elton told media the bar was not an LGBT venue and that the police raid was part of a wider law enforcement inspection of clubs ahead of the New Year's celebration.

RFE/RL has been declared an "undesirable organization" by the Russian government.

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