Recognition of same-sex unions in Russia

Russia recognizes neither same-sex marriage nor any other form of civil union for same-sex couples. However, gay activists claim that a same-sex marriage contracted abroad can legally be recognized in Russia. Russian laws stipulate several provisions which prevent the recognition of legal foreign marriages in Russia and a marriage entered into by two persons of the same sex is not one of them.

According to the majority of the former republics of the Soviet Union, support for legal recognition of same-sex couples is very limited, and as of 2009, the government has yet to signal any signs of support for such legislation.

In 2005, two polls have been conducted in Russia on the issue of same sex marriage. None of the research covered the support for civil union. While, they both give similar results they were conducted by different polling institutes:

In 2016, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow stated that same-sex marriage is a form of "Soviet totalitarianism". In May 2017, he likened it to Nazism and referred it as threat to family values during a visit to Kyrgyzstan.

In April 2009, Nikolai Alekseev launched a campaign for same sex marriage in Russia. He had previously stated in 2005 and again in 2008 that his LGBT Human Rights Project Gayrussia.ru is ready to help a genuine gay or lesbian couples who want to get its family and marriage rights respected in Russia.

On May 12, 2009, a lesbian couple, Irina Fedotova (Fet) and Irina Shipitko applied for marriage at the Tverskoy Office for the Registration of Civil Acts (ZAGS) in the centre of Moscow. The couple's appeal to the Court said: "The Russian Constitution and family laws do not prohibit same-sex marriages." The lesbian couple declared to The New York Times: "We have love, we have happiness, we want to be together for our whole lives and we want to do this here in Russia."

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Wikipedia