Original article (in Bosnian) was published on 13/1/2024; Author: Sehija Kamenica
Journalists allegedly asked Sergei Lavrov how he feels walking on rainbow-coloured stairs at the UN, to which he cynically responded with a remark about “trampling” LGBT people in Russia. This “conversation” is being shared on social media but is a fabricated anecdote.
On December 1, 2024, the Instagram page vijesti_365 published a photo of Russian diplomat Sergei Lavrov along with an alleged conversation he had with “Western journalists”. The journalists reportedly provoked him with a question about the “rainbow-colored stairs” in the United Nations building, to which he supposedly gave a “witty” response involving a derogatory remark about the LGBT community in Russia.
“Sergei Lavrov shines once again! The stairs at the UN are painted in rainbow colors, and the depraved Western journalists couldn’t resist asking Lavrov a foolish question:
‘How do you feel walking on the LGBTQIA+ stairs?’
Lavrov responded:
Russia traditionally wipes its feet on gay people.”
This post appears to be fabricated and intended as satire or propaganda.
The image had over 300 “likes” and numerous comments at the time of writing this analysis. It was also published as a reel on the Facebook page of the same name.
The alleged exchange between Lavrov and journalists about the “LGBT stairs” at the UN has been shared since October 4, 2023, when it was posted on the social network X. We found several such posts on this platform and on Facebook (1, 2, 3). Some of these posts also included an image of the “LGBT stairs”.
What are the Facts?
Sergei Lavrov is a Russian diplomat and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation. His “conversation with Western journalists” about the stairs at the UN and the LGBT community in Russia had previously been shared in Russian (1, 2, 3).
An internet search using relevant keywords does not yield any results confirming that such a conversation ever took place or that any media outlet or journalist reported on this alleged situation involving “LGBT stairs” at the UN (1, 2). The only places where this “conversation” can be found are posts on social media.
One of the posts featuring Lavrov’s “conversation with Western journalists” also included an image of stairs in various colors.
We were unable to find the original image from the posts online, but an image search yielded results showing similar stairs from different angles.
One of the results is the official website of the Dutch government, where a photo of the painted stairs in front of the UN was published. The caption states that the photo is from 2022.
We contacted the UN office in Bosnia and Herzegovina regarding the stairs in the photograph. We wanted to know what the stairs symbolize and whether they are a permanent feature in the UN building. Their response stated the following:
This was not a permanent installation. The stairs were painted in rainbow colors in 2022 as part of a project sponsored by the Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. This was done during the high-level week of the UN General Assembly and related to LGBT rights.
They also informed us that there is no permanent installation dedicated to LGBT rights at the UN headquarters in New York. However, member states are allowed to set up and/or sponsor temporary exhibitions.
Therefore, the stairs at the UN were not painted in “rainbow colors” as claimed in the analyzed posts. The stairs in the photograph were part of an event sponsored by the Dutch mission in 2022. The “conversation” between Sergei Lavrov and “Western journalists” about “LGBT stairs” at the UN has not been published anywhere, lacks any source to confirm its authenticity, and exists only in social media posts.
Although this alleged exchange between the Russian diplomat and journalists is merely an urban legend, the poor state of LGBT rights in Russia it describes is a reality. For years, Russian authorities have restricted the space for organizations dealing with LGBT rights. As early as 2013, a law was passed in Russia banning so-called gay propaganda or the promotion of non-traditional sexual relationships among young people, as it was defined at the time. This law has been used to silence activists and further stigmatize the LGBT community. It was expanded in 2022 to include a ban on “gay propaganda” among adults, and in November 2023, the Russian Supreme Court designated the “LGBT movement” as an extremist organization.
Therefore, the claim that the stairs at the UN were painted in “rainbow colors” is rated as a manipulation of facts. The first post about Sergei Lavrov’s “conversation” with “Western journalists,” without clarification that it is not authentic information, is rated as fake news. Other such posts are considered to be a distribution of fake news.
