In Belgorod, homosexuality is legal. It has been legal since 1993 when it was legalized nationally.

Articles 1 and 12 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation, which took effect in 1995, define marriage as between a man and a woman.

In 2020, Russian voters approved amendments to Russia's constitution. One of the amendments defines marriage as a union strictly between a man and woman.

Public LGBT activities, organizations, and advocacy in the Russian Federation are classified as extremist and strictly prohibited under federal anti-extremism laws following a decision by the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation on 30 November 2023.

Under this ruling, the "international LGBT public movement" is designated as an extremist organization, effectively outlawing all LGBT advocacy groups, civil associations, and public events nationwide. Participating in or financing an extremist organization is punishable by up to 12 years in prison under Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Displaying symbols associated with banned groups carries penalties of up to 15 days in administrative detention for a first offense under Article 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (KOAP RF) and up to four years in prison for repeat offenses under Article 282.4 of the Criminal Code.

This anti-extremism framework builds upon public information bans, including Federal Law No. 417-FZ of 5 December 2022 (amending Article 6.21 KOAP RF), which prohibits public promotion or demonstration of non-traditional sexual relations or changing gender across media, advertising, and online platforms. However, regulated medical practice (including clinical consultations, ICD-10 diagnostic evaluations under psychiatric standards, and official state medical commission procedures authorized by Federal Law No. 323-FZ) remains governed under healthcare regulations rather than public advocacy or anti-extremism statutes.

In 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed legislation into law that prohibits transgender individuals from changing their legal gender.

Despite this, legal gender change is still possible through a court. However, the procedure depends solely on the judge and is not regulated in any legal way. Since July 2023, there are known successful court cases.

On July 24th, 2023, Vladimir Putin signed legislation into law that bans “medical interventions aimed at changing the sex of a person.”

In Russia, you cannot legally identify as non-binary.

Russia’s Criminal Code Article 63(1)(e) and Article 282 allow for stricter punishment for crimes committed out of hatred based on nationality, race, religion, or social group. The “social group” provision can theoretically apply to anyone, including LGBTQ+ individuals. Despite this, Russian authorities even FSB keeps attacking and discriminate LGBTQ+ people in recent years. With no explicit mention of LGBTQ+ in the criminal code for hate crime protection, and active attacks allowed by the government, there are de facto no protections.

There are no protections from discrimination provided to LGBTIQ+ people in Russia.

Article 3 of the Labour Code prohibits employment discrimination but does not explicitly mention sexual
orientation or gender identity. Several prominent people including a TV news anchor have been fired for coming out, although some people have successfully challenged discriminatory dismissal.

Russia has no protections for housing discrimination; President Putin has supported laws to censor Russian LGBTQ media and laws.

Single homosexuals are allowed to adopt, but banned for transgender people.

There is no official ban on unnecessary sex reassignment operations on infants in Russia.

In 2008, Russia repealed its ban against gay people donating blood. The decree repealing the ban was signed into law on April 16th, 2008, by Tatyana Golikova, the Minister of Russia's Health and Social Development department.

Russian sanitary, building, and institutional law does not contain and has never contained dedicated norms regulating access to restrooms on the basis of sex or gender, as the legal concept of gender does not exist in the Russian legal system. For individuals after a legally binding sex reassignment process (which from 1997 to 2023 took place on the basis of a dedicated provision in Article 70 of Federal Law No. 143-FZ on Acts of Civil Status allowing administrative record updates via medical certificates, and since 2023 takes place through judicial proceedings to establish legal facts or challenge civil status record refusals under Articles 264 and 307 of the Civil Procedure Code of the Russian Federation in conjunction with Article 69 of Federal Law No. 143-FZ, justified by the court's constitutional authority to independently evaluate individual medical evidence, protect personal non-property rights under Article 150 of the Civil Code, and issue binding rulings that override administrative ZAGS refusals), access to appropriate infrastructure is legally self-evident and protected under general principles of personal rights protection, as in the eyes of the law they are persons of that sex. In the case of individuals prior to formal sex reassignment in documents, the legal system maintains a state of non-regulation. Both in public building technical standards (Code of Rules SP 118.13330.2012) and in workplace sanitary requirements (Sanitary Rules SP 2.2.3670-20), there are no provisions prohibiting entry under penalty of sanction, nor are there statutory guarantees directly protecting such access. In addition, medical procedures and document adjustments remain available via state medical commissions for congenital anomalies under Article 52 of Federal Law No. 323-FZ.

Conversion therapy is not banned in Russia, and the practice still occurs throughout the country.

Belgorod adopted an equal age of consent a few years after homosexuality was decriminalised when a new federal criminal code was enacted.