One of Russia’s top LGBT news sites has become the subject of a ban and is now blocked throughout the country.

Although the ruling came from a court in the small and remote town of Parabel in Siberia, the site is now inaccessible from anywhere in Russia.

According to the administrators of BlueSystem.ru, they did not receive any explanation for the decision, nor any notice that the court case was even taking place.

“The Kremlin is afraid of gays,” BlueSystem.ru stated, taking to their Vkontakte (Russian social media site) page. “On the eve of the State Duma elections, the Kremlin mobilised its repressive machine and blocked the most popular Runet gay site.”

Homosexuality is legal in Russia, but difficulties faced by LGBT individuals and groups have increased in recent years. In 2013, Russian lawmakers banned “propaganda” that promotes “non-traditional sexual relations”, with scrutiny even extending to so-called “gay emojis”.

Source: The Moscow Times