Rsia: Expand 'Gay Propaganda' Ban Progrs Toward Law | Human Rights Watch

Contents:

• ‘I’M AAID FOR MY FUTURE’: PROPOSED LAWS THREATEN GAY LIFE RSIA
• 'WE'RE NOT HIDG': GAY AND LBIAN RSIANS SAY A CULTURAL SHIFT IS UNRWAY
• RSIA: EXPAND 'GAY PROPAGANDA' BAN PROGRS TOWARD LAW
• INSI THE IRON CLOSET: WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE GAY PUT'S RSIA
• WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT RSIA’S SO-CALLED ‘GAY PROPAGANDA’ BILL
• RSIA TO GAYS: SHUT UP AND DISAPPEAR

‘I’M AAID FOR MY FUTURE’: PROPOSED LAWS THREATEN GAY LIFE RSIA

The European Court of Human Rights led 2017 that the 2013 law is discrimatory, promot homophobia and vlat the European Conventn on Human Rights. The urt found that the law “served no legimate public tert, ” rejectg suggtns that public bate on LGBT issu uld fluence children to bee homosexual, or that threatened public morals. Homosexualy was crimalized Rsia 1993, but homophobia and discrimatn is still rife.

Speakg before Put signed the bill to the law on Monday, Tanya Loksha, associate Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch said: “The 2013 ‘gay propaganda’ law was an unabashed example of polil homophobia, and the new draft legislatn amplifi that broar and harsher ways. In December 2022, Rsia expand s existg “gay propaganda” law to exert ntrol over public discsns and narrativ surroundg non-heterosexual relatnships and inti. They were tryg to ply wh a 2013 Rsian law that bans exposg mors to anythg that uld be nsired “gay propaganda.

”The anizers had good reason to be wary: Life has been challengg for gay Rsians sce the law passed, as the ernment has treated gay life as a Wtern import that is harmful to tradnal Rsian valu and Rsia’s Parliament is set to pass a legislative package that would ban all “gay propaganda, ” signalg an even more difficult perd ahead for a stigmatized segment of laws would prohib reprentatn of L. Exprsn wh s ratnale for the war Ukrae, sistg that Rsia is fightg not jt Ukrae but all of NATO, a Wtern alliance that reprents a threat to the Put drove home that argument a speech last week, sayg that the Wt n have “dozens of genrs and gay pri paras, ” but that should not try to spread the “trends” elsewhere. Aleksandr Khste, a puty om the lg Uned Rsia party and the lead thor of the new anti-gay bills, was even more blunt.

'WE'RE NOT HIDG': GAY AND LBIAN RSIANS SAY A CULTURAL SHIFT IS UNRWAY

Lunchenkov said that 2010, when he was school, he felt that he uld exprs his gay inty eely among his classmat. Olenichev said that though the police do not track hate crim agast queer people, he and his lleagu have noticed an crease clients who have suffered inty-based attacks sce rhetoric behd anti-gay laws may have dangero nsequenc for gay Rsians, said Vladimir Komov, a lawyer wh the group Delo 2013 law was promoted as protectg children, while the new on “seek to prohib gay propaganda as a danger to the state system, ” fg as extremism, he Lunchenkov said the proposed laws uld leave gay people “aaid to go to medil clics to get treatment or ttg” for sexually transmted diseas. ”Some gay Rsians doubt that the new laws will greatly affect them.

RSIA: EXPAND 'GAY PROPAGANDA' BAN PROGRS TOWARD LAW

“I am more sred of beg drafted to fight the war than for beg arrted bee I am gay, ” said Andrei Melnikov, 19. Lawmakers llg gays a danger on a par wh war “is more funny than sry, ” he now, gay Rsians and their alli have found exprsn spe rtrictive laws.

A versn of this article appears prt on, Sectn A, Page 7 of the New York edn wh the headle: Life for Gay Rsians Is About to Get Worse. Ten years ago, a bill was passed banng so-lled "gay propaganda" relatn to children. Human rights groups say that was followed by a rise vlent homophobic attacks Rsia.

But the fear generated by the legislatn is already leadg to censorship: onle cemas have leted LGBT-themed films and TV seri and eded out gay scen. In one episo of the highly-acclaimed HBO seri The Whe Lot, a Rsian streamg service changed the word "gay" to "man", eded a towel onto one male character's bare backsi and leted a gay sex scene, jt days after the law was ptn, The book Shattered, about the romance between two men, has been heavily redacted RsiaBooks, too, are beg censored.

INSI THE IRON CLOSET: WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE GAY PUT'S RSIA

The text has been redacted by the publisher, wh whole sectns replaced wh black of the -thors of the law, an openly homophobic natnalist lled Valy Milonov, agre to speak to me via violk. It was a faiar rendn of Put’s bgo rd of geopolil rentments—and then he transned to the issue of gay and transgenr rights.

He portrayed the war as a stggle between those seekg to reject Wtern valu and gay pri paras held as, his words, “loyalty tt[s]” to Wtern ernments. Kreml officials seized on the ia of banng “gay propaganda, ” takg an obscure law that had been gag steam regnal legislatur sce 2006 and passg at the feral level 2013. The vaguely word law prohibs any discsns of homosexualy plac or formats that may be accsible to mors, cludg the media and onle.

It was, as later scribed by Human Rights Watch, a “classic example of polil homophobia” for “polil ga. Acrdg to Rsian media monorg anizatn Medialogiya, reports about homosexualy skyrocketed om jt 11 2011 to more than 160 2013.

WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT RSIA’S SO-CALLED ‘GAY PROPAGANDA’ BILL

The gay propaganda law 2013 rved a path that Rsian tanks wish they had Ukrae. The media verage that followed the passage of the gay propaganda law 2013 set the tone for the rise hate crim that was to follow. In 2016, Dmry Tsilik, a proment art and culture cric who was gay, was stabbed more than 30 tim by a man he met on an onle datg se.

“Over the past two to three years, this hatred has grown all directns, cludg, unfortunately, towards gay people. In 2021, Hungary’s nservative ernment passed a gay propaganda law very siar to Rsia’s while Romania is weighg s own. Rsia’s weaponizatn of gay rights transformed the issue to a new geopolil flt le, Kondakov said.

RSIA TO GAYS: SHUT UP AND DISAPPEAR

The proposals prohib sharg posive and even ntral rmatn about lbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenr (LGBT) people, and publicly displayg non-heterosexual orientatns, wh hefty f for nonpliance. The origal “gay propaganda” ban, troduced 2013, purported to protect children om “propaganda, ” broadly fed to mean any posive or ntral pictn or discsn of non-heterosexual relatns. The draft legislatn classifi displays of non-heterosexual relatns or orientatn as “rmatn harmful to children’s health and velopment” and provis that webs and other onle sourc hostg rmatn about lbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenr (LGBT) people n be blocked.

“The 2013 ‘gay propaganda’ law was an unabashed example of polil homophobia, and the new draft legislatn amplifi that broar and harsher ways, ” said Tanya Loksha, associate Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. The 2013 “gay propaganda, ” law has been extensively ed by the ernment to stifle pro-LGBT events and to shutdown anizatns and onle media. “The proposed legislatn and the origal ‘gay propaganda’ ban have no place any society and belong the trash.