'We're not hidg': Gay and lbian Rsians say a cultural shift is unrway

Contents:

• RSIA: EXPAND 'GAY PROPAGANDA' BAN PROGRS TOWARD LAW
• WATCH: BAND BEHD 'GAY BAR' TO PERFORM RSIA
• GAY PROPAGANDA MIC
• A RSIAN POLICIAN THKS U2'S ALBUM COVER IS 'GAY PROPAGANDA'
• 'WE'RE NOT HIDG': GAY AND LBIAN RSIANS SAY A CULTURAL SHIFT IS UNRWAY
• MOSW COURT UPHOLDS 100-YEAR BAN ON GAY PRI EVENTS
• GAY RIGHTS ACTIVISTS PROTT AT WORLD CUP WH 'HIDN' RABOW FLAG

RSIA: EXPAND 'GAY PROPAGANDA' BAN PROGRS TOWARD LAW

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. Electric Six, the Detro band known for s sgle "Gay Bar, " is schled to perform Wednday at a 16 Tons, a Mosw club, reports The Mosw six-member band's most notable sgle, "Gay Bar, " is a song that repeatedly spouts lyrics such as, "I wanna take you to a gay bar, " and "I've got somethg to put you.

WATCH: BAND BEHD 'GAY BAR' TO PERFORM RSIA

Consirg the current Rsian polil climate, which impos f and possible jail time for anyone found to be spreadg "propaganda of nontradnal sexual relatns" a format visible to mors, the band might be subject to legal actn if they perform the homo-centric h track. The natnal ban on so-lled gay propaganda was signed to law by Print Vladimir Put June, and has been ed to vlently opprs, silence, and arrt LGBT Rsians and tourists hopg to she a light on the untry's crackdown on LGBT people.

Acrdg to The Guardian, the member of Rsia’s nservative LDPR party has asked his untry’s attorney general to vtigate Apple, which gave away the band’s latt album to more than 500 ln iTun ctomers, for distributg “gay propaganda” to the youths of Rsia. Acrdg to the BBC, Nikolay Alexeye, Rsia's most proment gay rights activist, challenged the cy uncil's cisn to ban any events that uld be nsired "gay paras" om March 2012 until May 2112. Image source, RtersThe ntroversial Rsian ban agast promotg so-lled "gay propaganda" looks set to be extend to all move reprents a tougheng of an existg 2013 law, which mak providg rmatn about beg LGBT to children a crimal nvicted face large f for promotg what Rsia lls "non-tradnal sexual relatns" ial approval of the extensn was voted through by the Rsian State Duma unanimoly.

GAY PROPAGANDA MIC

Unr the proposal, rmatn about "non-tradnal liftyl" or "the rejectn of fay valu" would be nsired legally the same as pornography, the promotn of vlence, or stokg racial, ethnic and relig also bans the "propaganda of paedophilia" - which the Rsian ernment often nflat wh beg gay. Another element of the extensns prohibs rmatn which might "e mors to sire to change their sex", a reference to transgenr enacted, the law would allow any rmatn on the ter discsg LGBT topics to be blocked and films emed to nta posive pictns of beg gay to be banned. Khshte, an MP om Mr Put's Uned Rsia Party, told the Duma that the "special operatn" - what the Rsian ernment sists on llg s war Ukrae - is happeng "not only on the battlefield, but also the mds and souls of people" rhetoric follows that of the Rsian print, who has ma beg anti-gay a rnerstone of his domtic agenda and thorarian speech annexg four Ukraian terrori last month, Mr Put ranted about fai wh a "parent number one and a parent number two" - what has been terpreted as a cricism of same-sex fai.

A RSIAN POLICIAN THKS U2'S ALBUM COVER IS 'GAY PROPAGANDA'

Rsia’s lg party’s most recent mpaign to ban “polyamory and bisexualy propaganda” is part of an ongog attempt to enact homophobic polici and prerve what the Kreml nsirs “tradnal valu. ” Along wh the recent natnal referendum that clud a nstutnal ban on same-sex marriage, this mpaign, creasgly nservative and exprsly anti-LGBT+ rhetoric, reprents state-sponsored “policized homophobia” that unrme and repackage the prcipl of mocracy and human rights, as well as how those ncepts are terpreted by policymakers, Rsia and beyond. The implementatn of the “gay propaganda” law has rulted an crease anti- LGBT+ vlence and rtrictns on LGBT+ projects and iativ—om a ban on Pri events to the abily of LGBT+ anizatns to register the untry.

The bt path forward lls for ternatnal actors to adhere to human-rights prcipl, mata polil prsure on the Rsian ernment, and support lol actors who work to rce homophobic rhetoric the public doma and crease the reprentatn of LGBT+ people. In Rsia, antipathy towards homosexualy and genr variance is not new—LGBT people there have long faced threats, bullyg, abe si their fai, and discrimatn—but the 2013 “gay propaganda” law has creased that social hostily.

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

And while Rsian ernment officials and parliament members claim that the goal of the “gay propaganda” law is to protect children om potentially harmful subject matter, the law fact directly harms children by nyg them accs to sential rmatn and creasg stigma agast LGBT youth and their fai. While some LGBT youth told that teachers had supported and protected them, many others said their teachers characterize LGBT people as a symptom of perversn imported om Wtern Europe or North Ameri, mirrorg the polil homophobia that motivated the passage of the “gay propaganda” law the first place.

MOSW COURT UPHOLDS 100-YEAR BAN ON GAY PRI EVENTS

Some explaed that they felt forced to speak about sexual orientatn and genr inty only phemisms, or to say explicly at the outset of unselg ssns that they nnot and will not dissemate “gay propaganda” attempts to dispel advance any notn that they are vlatg the law.

On June 10, 2013, Yelena Mizula, the thor of the law at the State Duma, the lower chamber of Rsia’s parliament, told reporters that the Deti-404 webse did not nstute “gay propaganda” unr the law. Instct relevant law enforcement agenci, such as the office of the prosecutor general, the Mistry of Interr, and the Invtigative Commtee, to gather data about homophobic and transphobic crim, and make such data publicly available.

In le wh the June 2013 EU guil on promotg and protectg the enjoyment of all human rights by lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr and tersex (LGBTI) persons, support iativ to provi assistance and redrs for victims of such vlence, civil society and ernmental monorg of s volvg vlence, and trag of law enforcement personnel.

GAY RIGHTS ACTIVISTS PROTT AT WORLD CUP WH 'HIDN' RABOW FLAG

Same-sex relatns between men were crimalized 1993, two years after the breakup of the Soviet Unn, and 1999 the Rsian Mistry of Health regnized the standards of the Internatnal Classifitn of Diseas (ICD), which had been revised 1990 to remove a diagnosis for homosexualy.