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

gay issues in russia

The Fear of Beg Gay Rsia. Mosw's first gay pri para was held May 2006, thirteen years after homosexualy was crimalized Rsia. It was supposed to be a joyo ocsn, the begng of a new era of openns...

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‘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. 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.

”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.

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. 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.

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

And particularly where that base of support is close to relig views, there is a lot of crossover there that works for polil opportunists who are g official forms of homophobia to fe their polil That is Dan Healey, profsor of Rsian history at the Universy of Oxford. On Monday, Rsian Print Vladimir Put signed to effect the “gay propaganda” bill, which Rsian lawmakers unanimoly approved November.

The new “gay propaganda” bill expands on existg legislatn that was adopted by the Kreml 2013 to promote “tradnal” fay valu Rsia. ” Some lawmakers have also shown support for an pennt bill that would make any so-lled “gay propaganda” a crimal offense, acrdg to the Associated Prs. Petersburg and Mosw have been marked by state vlence and arrts, while an crease the number of attacks on LGBTQ people throughout Rsia—both by dividuals and by anized homophobic groups—creased after the 2013 law, acrdg to a 2014 report published by Human Rights Watch.

Read More: Rsia’s Anti-Gay Laws: How a Dutch Activist Got Cght the Crosshairs How are human rights advot rpondg to this law? In 2017, the European Court of Human Rights led that Rsia’s “gay propaganda law” was discrimatory, promoted homophobia, and vlated the European Conventn on Human Rights and that “served no legimate public tert. ” The urt rejected suggtns that public bate on LGBTQ issu uld fluence children to bee homosexual or that threatened public morals.

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

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.

THE FEAR OF BEG GAY RSIA

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. Acrdg to Rsian media monorg anizatn Medialogiya, reports about homosexualy skyrocketed om jt 11 2011 to more than 160 2013.

*BEAR-MAGAZINE.COM* GAY ISSUES IN RUSSIA

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

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