[instiz] WOMAN WHO WROTE GAY FANFIC ABOUT STRAY KIDS, SENTENCED TO 18 MONTHS OF FORCED LABOR

A woman in Russia who wrote gay fanfic based on the group Stray Kids has been sentenced to forced labor.

According to local Russian media outlets such as Novaya Gazeta Europe and Pink News, the Yekaterinburg court in Russia sentenced Alexandra Kuzik (36) to 18 months of forced labor on the 11th (local time) for the production of illegal obscene material. The court ordered that 10% of Kuzik’s income be withheld by the state.

The prosecution initially sought a four-year prison sentence for Kuzik. It is reported that Kuzik admitted to all charges and stated that writing fanfic was a long-standing hobby.

The case began when a woman discovered fanfic written by Kuzik on her underage daughter’s device and reported it to the police. The fanfic, posted online in 2022, depicts a same-s** romance. The LGBT health website Parniplus later confirmed that the fanfic in question was a work based on the Korean group Stray Kids.

According to local media, Kuzik, a photographer and stylist, never printed or sold the fan fiction in question, and it was discovered on a minor girl’s Telegram channel.

This ruling comes amidst a trend of Russia tightening its crackdown on LGBT content. Since expanding its “ban on LGBT propaganda” in 2022, Russia has continued to impose sanctions on amateur fiction sites and comic platforms. MangaLib, the largest comic platform in the Russian-speaking world, was fined approximately 14 million rubles, or 150,000 euros, last year for “LGBT propaganda.”