This essay aims to describe and analyze the movement for gay rights – later LGBTQ rights – in Russia from its inception in the late 1980s until the time of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The study is guided by theoretical concepts from social movement studies, and is based on previous research as well as inter-views with activists conducted by the author. The essay outlines a complex trajec-tory, where the building of a more professional and well-organized movement has occurred alongside increased state repression and stigmatization of LGBTQ activ-ism. While the findings are not directly generalizable to other civil society move-ments, they allow us to make broader reflections about the dangers of a too-linear view on democratic transition, about the relation between a movement’s visibil-ity and its success, and about how a state’s geopolitical orientation impacts civil society.