On Law as Love, Intersectionality and One ECtHR Case
In 2014, a school for children with disabilities in Saint Petersburg, Russia, fired a lesbian music teacher for what they deemed an ‘immoral offense.’ The dismissal was preceded by a dossier on the teacher compiled and shared with local authorities by an anti-LGBT activist. The dossier included photos from the teacher’s restricted social media account showing her hugging or kissing other women, including her partner. AK was among many teachers harassed by anti-LGBT activists and forced to leave their jobs in Russia after the adoption of the national law prohibiting ‘propaganda of non-traditional sexual orientation among minors.’ Human Rights Watch, for example, documented seven other cases in which educators who were LGBT themselves or supported LGBT rights were threatened or pressured to resign. Each case involved smear campaigns citing the ‘propaganda’ law, but only AK’s case reached an international human rights body. European Court’...