Sergey Katsuba
Research Area: Authoritarian Politics, Human Rights Law, Socio-Legal Research, LGBTQ Rights
Email: sergey.katsuba@ucdconnect.ie
Position: PhD Candidate and Research Assistant, Sutherland School of Law, UCD
Research Area: Authoritarian politics, political homophobia, institutional discrimination, socio-legal studies
Supervisors: Associate Professor Sara Benedi Lahuerta
Thesis committee: Dr Laurent Pech, Full Professor of Law, Dean of Law and the Head of School, University College Dublin; Dr Lauren McCarthy, Professor of Legal Studies and Political Science, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Thesis title: Institutional Discrimination as an Authoritarian Practice: Case of Political Homophobia in Russia
Abstract:
Over the past two decades, the Russian state has institutionalised discrimination against LGBTQ individuals as a deliberate authoritarian tactic—an approach that is termed political homophobia. Through a series of legal measures—the 2013 “gay propaganda law”, its 2022 expansion, and the 2023 designation of the LGBTQ movement as “extremist”—the regime has weaponised law to consolidate power, shape national identity, and reinforce anti-Western narratives.
This study is framed as a single-case analysis of Russia, employing a tripartite interdisciplinary framework addressing political, legal, and societal dimensions. Methodologically, it integrates doctrinal analysis, thematic coding, and two original archival databases. The political component analyses parliamentary transcripts from 2009, 2013, and 2022, revealing how the legislature became a performative venue for nationalist homophobia reinforcing authoritarian identity. The legal component uses doctrinal methods and judicial data (134 court rulings) to demonstrate how anti-LGBTQ laws produce legal uncertainty and arbitrary enforcement rather than regulation. The societal component examines a 15-year hate crime dataset (n>1,200), showcasing shifting patterns in violence—particularly more premeditated and publicly orchestrated aggression.
This research advances our understanding of how institutionalised discrimination functions as a core pillar of authoritarian governance. By developing a novel tripartite framework and introducing two longitudinal datasets, it offers a model for comparative analysis of legalised discrimination during democratic backsliding. This interdisciplinary approach contributes both to socio-legal methodology and to global debates on the intersections of law, violence, and state power.
Bio
Sergey Katsuba is a socio-legal scholar and PhD candidate at UCD Sutherland School of Law, studying LGBTQ rights and institutionalised discrimination in authoritarian regimes. His doctoral research investigates how political homophobia in Russia is embedded through legal, political, and societal mechanisms—examining how laws targeting LGBTQ communities reinforce authoritarian rule and enable violence.
He has authored three peer-reviewed articles and contributed to several civil society reports. His empirical work includes a publicly accessible database of over 1,200 anti-LGBTQ hate crimes in Russia (2010–2024), hosted as part of the (opens in a new window)Grey Rainbow project ((opens in a new window)https://greyrainbow.dataout.org/) in collaboration with DataOut. In partnership with the Memorial Human Rights Centre, he co-authored a comprehensive report analysing the societal impacts of anti-LGBTQ laws in Russia. His findings have been featured in OSCE ODIHR civil society submissions for three consecutive years (2022–2024).
Sergey is co-coordinator of the LGBTQI Working Group at the UC Berkeley Centre on Comparative Equality and Anti-Discrimination Law, where he helps organise international seminars. In summer 2025, he successfully completed the Global Scholar Academy, an intensive research and writing programme organised by the Institute for Global Law & Policy (IGLP) at Harvard Law School, focused on advancing critical, interdisciplinary legal scholarship in a global context.
He teaches law and social science modules at UCD, including Law of the ECHR, Law and Hate, and interdisciplinary sociology courses. In 2022, he received the UCD Research Impact Award. He was joint Head of the PhD Network for the College of Social Sciences and Law in 2023–2024, and served as Research Assistant on The Generator, a ReClaim-funded initiative that supported cross-college postdoctoral collaboration across STEM and AHSS disciplines.
Publications and conferences:
Peer-reviewed publications
- Russian “Gay Propaganda Law”: A Comprehensive Qualitative Analysis of the Legislation and Case Law. Problems of Post-Communism, 1–14. (opens in a new window)https://doi.org/10.1080/10758216.2025.2487577
- The Decade of Violence: A Comprehensive Analysis of Hate Crimes Against LGBTQ in Russia in the Era of the “Gay Propaganda Law” (2010–2020). Victims & Offenders, 19(3), 395–418. (opens in a new window)https://doi.org/10.1080/15564886.2023.2167142
- Premeditated, Organized and Impactful: Dating Violence as a Method of Committing Hate Crimes Against LGBTQ People in Russia. J Fam Viol39, 1407–1420 (2024). (opens in a new window)https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-023-00638-z
Not Peer-reviewed:
- (opens in a new window)Authoritarian backlash on LGBTQ rights: a case of Russian anti-LGBTQ laws and the increase in the level of hate crime that they triggered - International Network or Hate Studies Blog
- (opens in a new window)Anti-LGBTQ Discrimination and Violence - Russian Analytical Digest (RAD)
- (opens in a new window)Russlands Gesetz gegen Propaganda für Homosexualität und die Gewalt gegen LGBTQ-Personen - Russland-Analysen
Civil Society Reports:
- For Memorial Human Rights Centre: (opens in a new window)Anti-LGBTQ politics of Russia and its consequences
- For OSCE Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights: annual civil society reports on hate crimes in Russia (completed 2022, 2023, 2024)
Poster Presentation
The Generator: Exploring Collaboration in Radically Interdisciplinary Teams All-Island Research Culture Network's 2025 Conference: Principles to Practice, Assembly Buildings Conference Centre, Belfast, May 2025
Conferences:
2025
- Participant, IGLP Global Scholars Academy, Stellenbosch, South Africa. Harvard Law School, July 2025
- Annual Convention of the Association for Slavic, Eastern European and Eurasian Studies (Washington, DC, November 2025)
Paper presentation: Scapegoating Strategies in Autocracies: The Cases of LGBTQ People and Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia
- International Council for Central and East European Studies World Congress (London, July 2025)
Paper presentation: Homophobic Legislative Politics in Russia: Its Societal Consequences and What Can Be
Done About It (a report with Memorial Human Rights Centre)
- The 16th Asian Conference on the Social Sciences (Tokyo, May 2025)
Paper presentation: Decade of Violence: Monitoring Anti-LGBTQ Hate Crimes in Russia in the Era of Autocratization
2024
- Annual Convention of the Association for Slavic, Eastern European and Eurasian Studies (Boston, November 2024)
Panel organiser: Law as Mechanism of Authoritarian Rule
Paper presentation: Law as an instrument of state repression: the progression before and after the invasion
- European Consortium of Political Research General Conference (Dublin, August 2024)
Paper presentation: How Authoritarian Rhetoric in the Parliament Affects the Emergence of Restrictive and Punitive Legislation: the Study of State Duma in Russia (with Artur Baranov)
Panel Chair: Conflict resolution and peacebuilding approaches
- British Association of Slavonic and Eastern European Studies (Cambridge, April 2024)
Panel Chair: Constitutions, Leaders and Non-Democracies
Paper presentation: Decade of violence: monitoring anti-LGBTQ hate crimes in Russia in the era of aurocratization
- Annual Conference of the Socio-Legal Studies Association (Portsmouth, March 2024)
Paper presentation: From Rainbow Prints to Dating Profiles: What Exactly is Restricted Under the “Gay Propaganda Law” in Russia?
2023
- Annual Convention of the Association for Slavic, Eastern European and Eurasian Studies (Philadelphia, November 2023)
Paper presentation: Decade of Violence: A Dark Anniversary of the “Gay Propaganda” Law in Russia
2022
- Global Meeting Law and Society Association (Lisbon, August 2022)
Paper presentation: Comprehensive Analysis of Hate Crimes Against LGBTQ in Russia (2010 – 2020)
- Wisconsin Russia Project 2022 Young Scholars Conference (Madison, June 2022)
Presentation: Censorship, Discrimination and Violence: A Socio-Legal Analysis of the Effects of the Russian “Gay Propaganda Law”
- Annual Conference of the Socio-Legal Studies Association (York, March 2022)
Publications about research:
- (opens in a new window)No Need to Pretend Anymore: How Hate Crimes and Punishments for ‘Propaganda’ Have Changed. Interview for Just Got Lucky (YouTube), 2024.
- (opens in a new window)Every Wave of Repression Against Queer People in Russia Leads to a Surge in Violence. Interview for Meduza, 2024.
- (opens in a new window)The Number of LGBT Hate Crime Victims in Russia Rose by 50% in 2023. Interview for Stories.Media, 2024.
- (opens in a new window)Putin’s Russia: First Arrests Under New Anti-LGBT Laws Mark New Era of Repression. Article in The Conversation, 2023.
- (opens in a new window)30 Years of LGBTQ+ History in Russia: From Decriminalisation in 1993 to ‘Extremist’ Status in 2023. Article in The Conversation, 2023.
- (opens in a new window)As War Brings New Oppression, Queer Russians Decide Whether to Stay or Flee. Interview for Xtra, 2023.
- (opens in a new window)How Russia’s 2013 ‘Gay Propaganda’ Law Catalyzed a Decade of Anti-LGBTQ+ Violence Interview for The Moscow Times, 2023.