Quarteera
Association of Russian-speaking LGBTQ+ people in Germany: advice for refugees, community and support.
Get in touch
quarteera.de
LGBTQ+ people in danger
The guides below are drafts: a lawyer has not reviewed them yet. This is not legal advice.
Whom to contact
4 organisationsWhere you are now
Shows those who help where you are now. The choice works only on your screen.
Equality Movement
The largest LGBTQ+ community organisation in the South Caucasus: lawyer, psychologist, social worker, doctor, HIV testing.
Georgia has had an anti-'LGBT propaganda' law since 2024. The latest news on the site is from November 2025; check that services are running.
Get in touch
equality.ge
Sphere
Legal, psychological and emergency help for LGBTQ+ people from Russia.
The 'LGBT movement' is designated 'extremist' in Russia. Contact Sphere from a device that is not checked.
The only official bot is @spherehelpbot. It never asks for money or SMS codes.
Get in touch
The organisation itself is not designated, but in Russia the 'LGBT movement' is designated 'extremist', and the authorities may present help to LGBT people as taking part in it. Messages on a phone that may be seized are dangerous. Write from a device you would not hand over if detained.
I understand the risk, continueOther ways to reach them: website
North Caucasus SOS Crisis Group
Evacuates LGBTQ+ people, their loved ones and women threatened by their families from Chechnya, Ingushetia and Dagestan; shelter, doctors, psychologists, lawyers.
Designated 'extremist' in Russia in summer 2026. The group says asking it for help does not count as taking part in its activities. It no longer has staff or volunteers inside Russia.
The only official bot is @sksos_helpbot. It never asks for money or SMS codes.
Get in touch
This organisation is designated 'extremist' in Russia. It says that a consultation is not participation in its work, but messages on a phone that may be seized and reposts of its materials are dangerous. Write from a device you would not hand over if detained.
I understand the risk, continueOther ways to reach them: sksos.org · help@sksos.org
Draft What human rights defenders advise
LGBTQ+ in Russia after the 'movement' was declared extremist
- What is punished: public display of symbols (a fine or up to 15 days' arrest, 20.3 CAO); 'participation in an extremist organisation' (up to 6 years, 282.2 CC); organising and financing (more).
- Human rights groups advise removing rainbow symbols from public profiles, making accounts private, leaving VK and not reposting initiatives' material. Don't send money to LGBT initiatives from Russia from any card: it can be treated as financing extremism.
- Be careful with dates: set-ups via apps and raids on clubs are known. Before a party, keep a lawyer's number on paper and agree who to alert if you're detained.
- If detained: invoke art. 51 of the Constitution, ask for a lawyer, don't unlock your phone. In the North Caucasus, if threatened by family or police, contact NC SOS. NC SOS was designated 'extremist' in Russia in 2026, but the group says asking it for help does not count as taking part in its activities. Write from a device that is not checked.
- Where to turn: Sphere, SK SOS; abroad: Quarteera. Psychological support: Sphere, First Line.
Designations of organisations in this guide: Sphere (foreign agent, "LGBT movement" designated extremist); North Caucasus SOS Crisis Group (foreign agent, extremist). Contacting them carries a risk: do not write from a phone that may be seized, and do not repost their materials.
current as of 25 September 2026. More: First Department: staying safe as an LGBT person (foreign agent); First Department: going to an LGBT party (foreign agent); OVD-Info: raids on clubs and bars (extremist)
Need a lawyer
In Russia, First Department and Solidarity Zone find lawyers. Lawyers abroad known for defending political cases: list of lawyers →