Russia Expands Ban On ‘Gay Propaganda’
Image: Russian President Vladmir Putin (right)
Last week the lower house of the Russian Parliament voted unanimously to expand its ban on any promotion of LGBT people or “gay propaganda”.
The original version of this law was passed in 2013 and banned “propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations” among minors.
Approved by 397 votes, the new law bans any positive mention of “non-traditional sexual relations” in advertising, books, movies, TV, and online and puts it in the same category as distributing pornography, promoting violence, as well as inciting racial, ethnic and religious tension.
LGBT Websites will also be blocked.
Heavy Penalties
According to Human Rights Watch, the law states that any display of homosexuality is “harmful to children’s health and development.”
There are heavy penalties for violating the law such as fines of up to 400,000 rubles ($9,600 ) for individuals and 5 million rubles ($120,600) for companies, NGOs, or other legal entities.
The law has been named the “Answer to Blinken” after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken who described the law as a “blow to freedom of expression”.
Associate Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch Tanya Lokshina said that “This law – like its predecessor – doesn’t protect anyone, but seeks to stoke fear and hatred about a minority. It cuts off kids from the services they need to thrive, and in some cases even survive.
“The proposed legislation and the original ‘gay propaganda’ ban have no place in any society and belong in the trash.”
Homophobic Government Campaign
According to Igor Kochetkov, head of the activist group, Russian LGBT Network, “This law is part of an ongoing homophobic government campaign against LGBTQ rights.
“This is part of a broader attack on anything the government deems ‘western and progressive’.”
Kochetkov went on to state that, “Officials don’t explain what they mean under ‘LGBT propaganda’. At this point, it is hard to know how this will affect the community. But the situation of the LGBTQ community was already very dire before this bill.”
While the law still has to go through the upper house and be signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin, those steps are seen more as a formality.
