Russian nightclub owner jailed for promoting "extremist" LGBTQ+ ideology
23-year-old Tatiana Zorina has been sentenced to four years in a penal colony following a raid on Tochka nightclub in Siberia in October 2024
The owner of a nightclub in Russia has been jailed for "promoting the ideology" of the “international LGBT movement" amid what Amnesty International describes as a "deepening crackdown" on LGBTQIA+ rights in the country.
On Monday (March 23), 23-year-old Tatiana Zorina was sentenced to four years in a penal colony by the Ingodinsky District Court of Chita, Eastern Siberia, following an investigation claiming that Tochka nightclub was being used to organise a "cell of an extremist group."
The group was the so-called "international LGBT movement", a non-existent entity designated as an "extremist" organisation in November 2023 by the Supreme Court of Russia, which Amnesty claims is in order to "arbitrarily target LGBTQIA+ people and those who associate with them".
According to the Russian human rights media project OVD-Info, Zorina had been under house arrest with no access to a phone or internet since a raid on Tochka on October 26, 2024, which was carried out by local law enforcement and the far-right Russian paramilitary organisation Russian Community.
In a statement seen by OVD-Info following the raid, Russian Community said: “An LGBT community (an organisation recognised as extremist on the territory of the Russian Federation) was identified and shut down right in the city centre. In the basement behind an iron door, with a guest verification system, sodomites held their shows and orgies.”
Local news outlet CHITA.RU reported that Tochka hosted a series of drag shows before the raid, with guests asked to pay entry for events. The publication attempts to connect "semi-nude photos" on Zorina's social media pages with her purported support of LGBTQIA+ extremism.
Zorina had reportedly worked as a DJ at the venue before purchasing it in 2023. According to Amnesty International, 23 criminal cases were in motion by the end of 2025 for charges relating to LGBTQIA+ "extremism".
“Tatiana Zorina’s sentencing is a stark illustration of how Russia’s abuse of ‘extremism’ legislation has spiralled into outright persecution targeting LGBTQ+ people and their allies," says Amnesty International’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia Director Marie Struthers. "Running a private venue intended as a space where LGBTQ+ people can safely be themselves is not a crime. Denying this right is deplorable.”
"The Russian authorities must immediately overturn this conviction and release Tatiana Zorina. They must also repeal laws that arbitrarily label peaceful expression and association as ‘extremism’ simply because they relate to sexual orientation or gender identity that do not align with so-called ‘traditional values.’ This homophobic witch-hunt must end now.”
Megan Townsend is Mixmag's Deputy Editor, follow her on X