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full screen Is My Little Pony spreading extremism? The issue is loaded in the increasingly authoritarian and conservative Russia. Stock image from business in the USA. Photo: Mike Groll/AP/TT
A My Little Pony fair in Moscow was accused this weekend of violating Russia’s new rigorous LGBT laws. Police could find no evidence of crime, but the fair was closed anyway.
“The police received complaints claiming that our event promotes non-traditional relationships and corresponding symbols, adult content aimed at children, as well as horror and darkness in general,” the organizers wrote on the Russian social media service VK.
The reports resulted in several police raids on the Mi Amore fair, named after one of the My Little Pony characters. Police were unable to establish any crime, but after threatening calls for the event to be canceled, organizers closed the doors early.
The American My Little Pony toys are aimed at children, but over the years have also gained an adult following worldwide. The Mi Amore fair was aimed at the latter and would have offered live performances and the sale of all sorts of gadgets and souvenirs connected to the toys.
The topic is obviously loaded. At the end of last year, the Russian film database Kinopojsk changed the age limit for My Little Pony cartoons to “18+”, i.e. for adults only.
This, in turn, followed successive tightening of rules against homosexuality and LGBTQ over the past decade in Russia. In November last year, the Supreme Court classified “the global LGBTQ movement” as extremist.
However, My Little Pony’s connections to the LGBTQ issue are not entirely clear. It is speculated that it has to do with the character Rainbow Dash, who has a rainbow colored mane and tail, an aesthetic reminiscent of the Pride flag.