How Rsia’s Anti-Gay Law Could Affect the 2014 Olympics, Explaed – Mother Jon

Contents:

• RSIA PASS ANTI-GAY-LAW
• RSIA PASS LAW BANNG GAY 'PROPAGANDA'
• RSIAN ANTI-GAY LAW PROMPTS RISE HOMOPHOBIC VLENCE
• WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT RSIA’S SO-CALLED ‘GAY PROPAGANDA’ BILL
• PROTTS, BOYTT LLS AS ANGER GROWS OVER RSIA ANTI-GAY PROPAGANDA LAWS
• RSIA’S ANTI-GAY LAWS LE WH PUBLIC’S VIEWS ON HOMOSEXUALY
• RSIA’S ANTI-GAY CRACKDOWN
• RSIA PASS ANTI-GAY LAW, ACTIVISTS TAED
• HOW RSIA’S ANTI-GAY LAW COULD AFFECT THE 2014 OLYMPICS, EXPLAED
• ANTI-GAY LAW SHAM PUT’S RSIA
• RSIAN ANTI-GAY BILL SETS OFF FUROR
• RSIA NOT ONLY COUNTRY WH ANTI-GAY LAWS
• VLADIMIR PUT FENDS ANTI-GAY LAWS AS BASTN OF GLOBAL NSERVATISM
• PUT FENDS RSIA'S 'ANTI-GAY' LAW STATE OF THE NATN SPEECH
• ‘OUR MERE EXISTENCE IS ILLEGAL.’ AS MOSW TOUGHENS ANTI-GAY LAW, LGBTQ RSIANS FEAR FOR THE FUTURE

RSIA PASS ANTI-GAY-LAW

Rsia's print, Vladimir Put, has signed to law a measure that stigmatis gay people and bans givg children any rmatn about lower hoe of Rsia's parliament unanimoly passed the Kreml-backed bill on 11 June and the upper hoe approved last Kreml announced on Sunday that Put had signed the legislatn to ban on "propaganda of nontradnal sexual relatns" is part of an effort to promote tradnal Rsian valu over wtern liberalism, which the Kreml and the Rsian orthodox church see as rptg Rsian youth and ntributg to the protts agast Put's f n now be imposed on those who provi rmatn about the lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr muny to mors or hold gay pri ralli.

Rsia's parliament has unanimoly passed a feral law banng gay "propaganda" amid a Kreml ph to enshre eply nservative valu that crics say has already led to a sharp crease anti-gay law passed 436-0 on Tuday, wh jt one puty abstag om votg on the bill, which bans the spreadg of "propaganda of non-tradnal sexual relatns" among law effect mak illegal to equate straight and gay relatnships, as well as the distributn of material on gay rights. Mut after passg the anti-gay legislatn, the Duma also approved a new law allowg jail sentenc of up to three years for "offendg relig feelgs", an iative lnched the wake of the trial agast the anti-Kreml punk band Psy two laws were wily cricised by Rsia's margalised liberal and human rights muni and e amid a wir crackdown agast pennt civil activy the untry. Put, who often mak a show of his fah, has creasgly lled upon the church to fill his own iologil vacuum followg a ntted printial electn last year, acpanied by unprecented protts agast se agast Psy Rt – which three members were found guilty of "hooliganism motivated by relig hatred" after performg an anti-Put anthem si a Mosw church – was wily seen as the lnch of an ultra-nservative 's anti-gay law, whose text was softened to remove explic referrals to "homosexual propaganda", troduc f of up to 100, 000 roubl (£1, 975) for dividuals who have ed the media or ter to promote "non-tradnal relatns".

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.

RSIA PASS LAW BANNG GAY 'PROPAGANDA'

Rsia has experienced an upsurge homophobic vigilantism followg the troductn of legislatn outlawg "homosexual propaganda" June, gay and lbian groups new laws, which have st a shadow over the Wter Olympics to be held Sochi early next year, ban the promotn of "non-tradnal sexual relatns" among mors. The groups often act agast gay teenagers, several of whom told the Guardian that risg homophobia and vigilante activy force them to lead liv of Rsian LGBT Network said the harassment of gay people was beg anised natnally for the first time through groups known as Occupy Gerontophilia and Occupy Paedophilia, who claim to be tryg to "reform" Kochetkov, the head of the work, said Occupy Paedophilia – which foc on gay adults – had upload hundreds of vios and garnered hundreds of thoands views on social media s. "The latt laws agast so-lled gay propaganda, first the regns and then on the feral level, have sentially legalised vlence agast LGBT people, bee the groups of hooligans jtify their actns wh the laws, " Kochetkov said.

Kochetkov said most homophobic vlence was not reported to the police, but a recent study by his anisatn found that of 20 attacks that had been reported recently, four were vtigated and only one rulted a urt se. Rsian law did not outlaw discrimatn based on sexual orientatn, he gay teenager, Robert, who liv the Siberian cy of Kemerovo, said he narrowly avoid exposure at the hands of Occupy Gerontophilia. After beg nonted, the man admted he was om Occupy Gerontophilia, Robert a seri of terviews wh young homosexuals, the Guardian found that wispread fear means their relatnships are nearly always clanste and abe is monplace.

"Whereas the relatively smopolan Mosw and St Petersburg have several gay clubs and bars – one of Mosw's bt-known nightclubs, Propaganda, also hosts a gay party every Sunday night – other ci Rsia are generally more nservative. "It was a good thg my iend was able to talk me out of , sce I found out later that several homophob were wag for me there, " she, a 17-year-old livg Tambov, where both Occupy Gerontophilia and Occupy Paedophilia have been particularly active, said he tried to "prepare a person" by talkg about homosexualy general before he told them about his sexual orientatn. "Artyom Rtov, a 15-year-old om the cy of Veliky Ustyug, the north of Rsia, said his teachers were openly homophobic, suggtg that LGBT should be exiled or given pulsory medil treatment.

RSIAN ANTI-GAY LAW PROMPTS RISE HOMOPHOBIC VLENCE

"At the end of the last school year, I heard a ton of homophobic statements om teachers, " Rtov hasn't e out to his nservative mother, who would prefer him to watch football rather than engage his hobbi of drawg and sgg. (New York) – Rsia’s anti-gay “propaganda” law has served as a tool for anti-gay discrimatn the year sce entered to force, even though Rsian thori have fed only four people for vlatg . The law’s adoptn also cid wh the spread of vlence and harassment of lbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenr (LGBT) people and LGBT rights activists and a rise homophobic hate speech by some Rsian officials and public figur, Human Rights Watch rearch found.

On December 3, 2013, a urt the northern Rsian cy of Arkhangelsk found that two Rsian LGBT rights activists, Nikolai Alexeyev and Yaroslav Yevthenko, had vlated the feral anti-LGBT “propaganda” law bee they stood next to a children’s library Arkhangelsk wh a sign that said, “There’s no such thg as gay propaganda, you don’t bee gay, you’re born gay. A Kazan urt fed Isakov 4, 000 bl ($120) bee on June 30, 2013, he held a one-mute picket on the cy’s central square, holdg a plard that said, “Beg gay and lovg gays is normal; beatg gays and killg gays is crimal. ” He said his brief prott had nothg to do wh propaganda: “I wanted to brg attentn to the vlence agast LGBT people by natnalist groups who equal gays wh pedophil, and to killgs of [gay] people.

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

In September 2013, the newspaper had published an terview wh a gay teacher om Khabarovsk, Aleksanr Ermoshk, which he was quoted as sayg, “My own existence prov that homosexualy is normal. Petersburg regnal law banng propaganda for homosexualy, had filed a plat claimg that Deti-404’s activi might nstute propaganda for “nontradnal sexual relatnships” vlatn of the feral law. The group sent a letter that Ermoshk said had 700 signatur to the Khabarovsk regn partment of the Edutn Mistry llg for Ermoshk’s dismissal om his teachg job bee he is openly gay and a known LGBT activist Khabarovsk.

Ermoshk told Human Rights Watch that the group had alleged that his prence the school uld vlate the feral anti-LGBT “propaganda” law bee he prented homosexualy and equaly for LGBT people a posive light.

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.

PROTTS, BOYTT LLS AS ANGER GROWS OVER RSIA ANTI-GAY PROPAGANDA LAWS

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. Implemented last month, after Print Vladimir Put signed to law, bars the public discsn of gay rights and relatnships anywhere children might hear – and has been nmned by Rsian and ternatnal rights groups as highly discrimatory. -based pany Outsports, which supports gay sport, is among those opposed to an Olympic boytt, sayg crics should foc on puttg prsure on Rsia’s ernment rather than nyg athlet their chance to pete.

The Internatnal Olympic Commtee issued a statement Wednday rponse to the furor, sayg the Rsian ernment had given assuranc that gay visors would not be affected by the ntroversial law. Rsia’s mister of sport, Valy Mutko stirred ternatnal ncerns Thursday when he announced that the untry planned to enforce s new anti-gay laws when hosts the 2014 Wter Olympics Sochi. Contrary to what the Internatnal Olympic Commtee says, the law uld mean that any Olympic athlete, traer, reporter, fay member or fan who is gay — or spected of beg gay, or jt acced of beg gay — n go to jail.

The law is broad and vague, so that any teacher who tells stunts that homosexualy is not evil, any parents who tell their child that homosexualy is normal, or anyone who mak pro-gay statements emed accsible to someone unrage is now subject to arrt and f.

RSIA’S ANTI-GAY LAWS LE WH PUBLIC’S VIEWS ON HOMOSEXUALY

Studi om San Diego State Universy pared homosexual civil unns and heterosexual marriag Vermont and found that the same-sex relatnships monstrate higher levels of satisfactn, sexual fulfillment and happs.

RSIA’S ANTI-GAY CRACKDOWN

Put has sallied forth to this battle, figurg that the only opposn he will face will e om the left, his favore Put’s mpaign agast lbian, gay and bisexual people is one of distractn, a strategy of monizg a mory for polil ga taken straight om the Nazi playbook.

RSIA PASS ANTI-GAY LAW, ACTIVISTS TAED

MOSCOW (Rters) - Rsia’s lower hoe passed a law on Tuday banng gay “propaganda”, a measure that human rights groups say has already fuelled attacks on homosexuals as Print Vladimir Put pursu an creasgly nservative social rights activists kiss durg a prott agast a proposed new law termed by the State Duma, the lower hoe of Parliament, as "agast advotg the rejectn of tradnal fay valu" central Mosw June 11, 2013.

HOW RSIA’S ANTI-GAY LAW COULD AFFECT THE 2014 OLYMPICS, EXPLAED

REUTERS/Maxim ShemetovAs parliament bated the bill, gay activists who had taken part a “kissg prott” outsi parliament to monstrate agast the law were harassed and pelted wh eggs by anti-gay protters, then about 20 of them were law bans the spreadg of “propaganda for non-tradnal sexual relatns” to mors and sets heavy f for vlatns. Crics say the bill - a natnwi versn of laws already place several ci cludg Put’s hometown of St Petersburg - would effect ban all gay rights ralli and uld be ed to prosecute anyone voicg support for homosexuals. HOMOPHOBIC VIOLENCEThere are no official figur on anti-gay crime Rsia, but an onle poll last year, 15 percent of about 900 gay, lbian, bisexual or transgenr rponnts said they had been physilly attacked at least once the prev 10, who has embraced the Rsian Orthodox Church as a moral thory and harnsed s fluence as a source of polil support, has champned socially nservative valu sce startg a new, six-year term May gay rights protters outsi the Duma on Tuday were far outnumbered by around 200 anti-gay activists who surround them, chantg “Rsia is not Sodom”, sgg Orthodox Christian prayers, crossg themselv and throwg rotten scuffl which one man was knocked to the ground and kicked by the anti-gay activists, police began tag the gay protters and bundlg them to wag police said about 20 people were taed.

Invtigators say homophobia was the motive for the btal murrs of two men the past month, one eastern Rsia and one the southern cy of 60-year-old print ni that there is discrimatn agast gays, but has cricized them for failg to crease Rsia’s populatn, which has cled sharply sce the llapse of the Soviet Unn Duma passed another law on Tuday that ma the sultg of relig feelgs a crime punishable by up to three years prison - a measure proposed after last year’s Psy Rt prott at a Mosw members of the femist performance group are servg two-year jail sentenc for “hooliganism motivated by relig hatred” after a trial that drew ternatnal bills still need the approval of the upper hoe, and Put’s signature. But when Rsia’s Interr Mistry announced last week that the untry’s so-lled anti-gay law—which allows for fg and tag gay and pro-gay people—would apply durg the Gam, gay rights and human rights activists around the world turned their foc to the small cy on the ast of the Black Sea, one of the warmt rners of Rsia.

ANTI-GAY LAW SHAM PUT’S RSIA

Led by notor Rsian neo-Nazi Maksim “Tak” (“the Hatchet”) Martskevich, the group has been g social media, primarily VKontakte (Rsia’s Facebook spoff), to place fake datg ads to lure gay men. Poltavtsev also mounted a petn on to add Rsian lawmakers Valy Milonov and Elena Mizula, both of whom have sponsored anti-gay legislatn, to the US Congrs’ Magnsky list of human rights vlators. Meanwhile, an April 2012 TV appearance by Dmri Kiselev—TV anchor and puty director of VGTRK, Rsia’s state-owned televisn and rad holdg pany—surfaced last week, showg Kiselev, a state employee, sayg the followg to a round of applse: “I thk that jt imposg f on gays for homosexual propaganda among teenagers is not enough.

And last week, Print Obama said at a Whe Hoe news nference that he also oppos a boytt, addg, “One of the thgs I’m really lookg forward to is maybe some gay and lbian athlet brgg home the gold or silver or bronze, which I thk would go a long way rejectg the kd of attus that we’re seeg there. Meanwhile, NBC (formerly part-owned by GE), which paid the IOC $775 ln for Sochi broadst rights, has taken heat om Media Matters and others for parrotg he IOC le and not reportg on the anti-gay law.

RSIAN ANTI-GAY BILL SETS OFF FUROR

PDT (Ian Gordon): Days after Amerin middle-distance nner Nick Symmonds cricized the anti-gay law after wng a silver medal the 800-meter fal of the IAAF track champnships Mosw, USOC exec Stt Blackmun told Rsia’s R-Sport that “’s our strong sire that our athlet ply wh the laws of every natn that we vis.

RSIA NOT ONLY COUNTRY WH ANTI-GAY LAWS

PDT (Ian Gordon): In prott of the anti-gay law, Rsian sprters Kseniya Ryzhova and Tatyana Firov kissed on the medal stand yterday after takg part the gold-wng 4×400-meter relay team at the IAAF track champnships.

But Dmry Kozak fend the anti-gay law, claimg, “The legislatns apply equally to all persons, irrpective of their race, relign, genr, or sexual orientatn, and nnot be regard as discrimatn based on sexual orientatn. Before headg back to the US earlier today, Print Obama met wh ne gay rights activists at a hotel meetg room, acpanied by US ambassador to Rsia Michael McFl and natnal secury adviser San Rice. When my iend told me this story many years later, we had a good lgh, agreeg that though thgs weren’t easy for gay people Rsia, you did not have to stay shut that closet for life.

VLADIMIR PUT FENDS ANTI-GAY LAWS AS BASTN OF GLOBAL NSERVATISM

On Friday, as Kolmanovsky stood the eezg ld, the state Duma passed the first readg of a bill prohibg distributn of "gay propaganda" to mors, which opponents fear would make gay pri march, monstratns for gay rights and public displays of affectn by same-sex upl illegal. A new Rsian law that crimaliz "propaganda of non-tradnal sexual relatns among mors" has sparked growg lls om the global gay muny and s supporters for a boytt of Rsia's upg Wter heads of state like U.

Print Barack Obama and Brish Prime Mister David Cameron have risted such lls, they and other high-profile figur and stutns have cricized what appears to be Mosw's creasg anti-gay Tuday, FIFA, the feratn erng world soccer petn, requted "clarifitn and more tails" om the Rsian ernment ncerng the law, passed July wh vol support om Rsian Print Vladimir to the host the World Cup 2018, Rsia had recently received a siar requt om the Internatnal Olympic Commtee ncerng the 2014 Sochi Wter Gam after Rsian sports mister Valy Mutko said that the new law would be enforced durg the homosexual relatns have been legal Rsia sce 1993, the new law has been assailed by crics as the latt and most ser attempt by the thori to crimalize and stigmatize Rsia's gay hostile toward gay rights movements and to homosexualy more broadly, the Rsian public overwhelmgly supports the new law, acrdg to public opn polls.

PUT FENDS RSIA'S 'ANTI-GAY' LAW STATE OF THE NATN SPEECH

Dpe posive recent velopments for LGBT people the Uned Stat and other parts of the world, nsensual same-sex relatnships rema a crime at least 76 untri, acrdg to a Uned Natns report released are six natns that have recently adopted or have pecially harsh anti-gay laws:Cameroon"Homosexual nduct is crimalized 38 stat Ai, and many, laws are beg stricter, " said Boris Dtrich, advocy director of the LGBT rights program of Human Rights Watch.

Homosexuals, pecially gay men, are regularly prosecuted Cameroon, and sometim tak as ltle as a text msage to another man exprsg love or havg an appearance perceived as overly effemate to be put behd bars. UgandaIn Uganda, home to some of the harsht anti-gay laws Ai—wh sentenc for homosexualy rangg om 14 years to life imprisonment—some polil forc have been seekg to pass an "Anti-Homosexualy Bill. "While the bill clus such headle-grabbg provisns as the ath penalty for "aggravated homosexual nduct, " the spe of the proposed law is what has many gay activists most worried, said Human Rights Watch's clse the legislatn stat that anyone, cludg fay members of LGBT people, n be prosecuted for not notifyg thori wh 24 hours if they know someone who is gay, wh sentenc of up to three years prison.

State Department stated, though, that no one Bundi had been arrted or prosecuted unr the anti-gay law that year, feedg the spicns of the print's crics that the move was a polil some of the more vic crackdowns on LGBT muni are takg place sub-Saharan Ai's poort untri is not a cince, said the Internatnal Gay and Lbian Human Rights Commissn's Jsi Stern, sce the attentn they generate n sometim provi a eful distractn om other prsg prri. Internatnal human rights groups have llected evince that Iran has executed men on homosexualy charg, and documented s of arrts, imprisonment, and physil abe of LGBT persons based on their sexual orientatn or associatn wh other members of LGBT muny. Homosexualy was scribed by the secretary general of Iran's high uncil for human rights as "an illns and malady, " and by former Print Mahmoud Ahmadejad as somethg which "we don't have our untry.

‘OUR MERE EXISTENCE IS ILLEGAL.’ AS MOSW TOUGHENS ANTI-GAY LAW, LGBTQ RSIANS FEAR FOR THE FUTURE

Qatari law nsirs homosexualy a crimal offense that's punishable by up to seven years jail (or a life term when one of the parti is unr 16 years of age) wh the civic penal , Islamic Sharia law is on the books Qatar, though appli only to Mlims. Vladimir Put has fend Rsia's anti-gay laws his annual addrs to both chambers of the Rsian an apparent reference to the laws banng "propaganda of non-tradnal relatns", the Rsian print said that on the ternatnal arena Rsia se self as a fenr of nservative valu agast what nsirs an asslt of "genrls and uls so-lled tolerance" which he said "equals good and evil" said Rsia will oppose attempts to impose foreign polil iology on sovereign untri.

Petersburg who left Rsia after his parents threatened to sue his therapist who backed him receivg hormone therapy; and Ivan, 18, who is gay, half Rsian and half Ukraian, and “didn’t want to kill people. Rsian Print Vladimir Put ed his state-of-the-natn addrs on Thursday to fend nservative valu, referrg obliquely to his ernment's anti-gay stance as he chid the Wt for treatg "good and evil" equally. The measur clu g private acunts on social media, havg accs to a work of tsted people, sendg their son to a private krgarten where the fact a kid has two moms is ls likely to spark a homophobic reactn, and g a private hospal where they n ls risk of a doctor llg child protectn thori to make quiri about their fay set-up, they said.