The Paradoxical Interrelationship of Church and State in Post-Communist Russia: The Rise and Manifestation of Power via the Prism of LGBTQIA Rights

The Russian Orthodox Church is seeking to reestablish a leadership role in the spiritual health of the citizenry in post-Communist Russia via a concerted effort to forge an alliance with the Russian government, regardless of the secular constitution. Commencing with perceived preferential legislation, the Church has risen to heightened influence that is subsequently being used to disenfranchise non-traditional sexual communities. This paper offers an extensive cross-examination of legislation and intersectionality that highlights the incongruities of this alliance via international, federal, and religious documents, legal case law, polling data and more to purport that the Church encompasses a higher degree of complexity than was previously assumed, including non-religious self-identification. Ultimately, this paper concludes that the Church, in its current form, functions more as an agency of the State than as a religious entity. Lastly, this paper neither defends nor anathematizes the merits of any theological tenet