Russian politicians approve a bill banning LGBTQ ‘propaganda’

 

Russia’s lower house of parliament has approved unanimously a bill that effectively outlaws any expression of LGBTQ life.

The new law widens a ban on “LGBT propaganda” and restricts the “demonstration” of LGBTQ behavior, making any action or information that is deemed to promote homosexuality – whether in public, online, or in films, books, or advertising – subject to a hefty fine.

The legislation still needs the approval of the upper house of parliament and President Vladimir Putin, but those steps are seen as a formality.

“Any propaganda of non-traditional relationships will have consequences,” the speaker of the lower house, or State Duma, Vyacheslav Volodin, said on social media.

The bill “will protect our children and the future of our country from the darkness spread by the US and European states”, he added.

Activists say the new legislation ramps up the crackdown on “non-traditional” sexual relationships in Russia, with legal experts warning its vague language leaves room for law enforcement officers to interpret it as broadly as they wish, increasing the risk and uncertainty for the country’s LGBTQ community.

Kseniya Mikhailova of the LGBTQ support group Vykhod (“Coming Out”) told the Reuters news agency that adults-only gay bars or clubs would probably still be allowed to function, although perhaps not to advertise, but that same-sex kissing in public might be taken as an infraction.