Rsian lawmakers move to toughen 'gay propaganda' law, banng all adults om 'promotg' same-sex relatnships | CNN

Contents:

• RSIAN LAWMAKERS MOVE TO TOUGHEN ‘GAY PROPAGANDA’ LAW, BANNG ALL ADULTS OM ‘PROMOTG’ SAME-SEX RELATNSHIPS
• WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT RSIA’S SO-CALLED ‘GAY PROPAGANDA’ BILL
• RSIA PASS ANTI-GAY-LAW
• ‘OUR MERE EXISTENCE IS ILLEGAL.’ AS MOSW TOUGHENS ANTI-GAY LAW, LGBTQ RSIANS FEAR FOR THE FUTURE
• ‘I’M AAID FOR MY FUTURE’: PROPOSED LAWS THREATEN GAY LIFE RSIA
• RSIA NOT ONLY COUNTRY WH ANTI-GAY LAWS
• WHY RSIA IS SO ANTI-GAY

RSIAN LAWMAKERS MOVE TO TOUGHEN ‘GAY PROPAGANDA’ LAW, BANNG ALL ADULTS OM ‘PROMOTG’ SAME-SEX RELATNSHIPS

In December 2022, Rsia expand s existg “gay propaganda” law to exert ntrol over public discsns and narrativ surroundg non-heterosexual relatnships and inti. Rsia’s parliament has passed the third and fal readg of a law banng “LGBT propaganda” among all adults, as Mosw ramps up s nservative ph at home amid the war Ukrae that passed the ne-month mark on bill crimalis any act regard as an attempt to promote what Rsia lls “non-tradnal sexual relatns” – film, onle, advertisg or public – and expands on a notor 2013 law that banned “propaganda of nontradnal sexual relatns” among mors and was ed to ta gay rights the new law, dividuals n be fed up to 400, 000 roubl (£5, 400) and anisatns 5m roubl (£68, 500) for “propagandisg nontradnal sexual relatns”, while foreigners uld face up to 15 days’ arrt and expulsn om rights groups and LGBTQ+ activists say the extensn of the law means any act or public mentn of same-sex relatnships is functnally beg Rsian print, Vladimir Put, is expected to sign the bill the g the start of the war Ukrae, the Kreml has lnched a h effort to promote “tradnal valu”, wh the Rsian lear makg anti-gay rhetoric one of the rnerston of his polil a recent speech, Put acced the wt of “movg towards open satanism”, cg the promotn of gay and transgenr rights Europe as an example.

”Kochetkov said the bill was also an attempt by the Kreml to look for ternal enemi and distract attentn om battlefield past newsletter promotnafter newsletter promotnHuman rights crics fear the law will be ed to close down pennt film and book ftivals, makg the topic of gay sexual orientatn sentially taboo Rsia. ”Over the past few years, Rsia has banned a number of proment LGBTQ+ rights groups, cludg the Sphere Foundatn, an anisatn that shed light on vlent anti-gay purg Chechnya.

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

Kochetkov’s LGBT Network, wh a number of other human rights groups, has also received the “foreign agent” label, a Soviet-era tag signed to target groups the thori say receive “foreign fundg” and engage “polil activy” while the Rsian ernment has expand s attacks on LGBTQ+ rights, recent pollg has dited parts of Rsian society are beg more tolerant towards the gay muny, wh a 2019 poll showg that 68% of younger Rsians view the LGBTQ+ muny as “normal” July, Daria Kasatka, Rsia’s hight-ranked female tennis player, me out as gay, a move appld by fellow athlet and parts of the Rsian public. Rsian lawmakers agreed to toughen the untry’s discrimatory law agast so-lled same-sex “propaganda, ” movg to ban all Rsians om promotg or “praisg” homosexual relatnships or publicly suggtg that they are “normal.

RSIA PASS ANTI-GAY-LAW

At a speech Mosw on Thursday, Put assailed Wtern culture and told a crowd: “The Wt n do whatever they want wh gay paras but they shouldn’t dictate the same l for Rsia. The European Court of Human Rights led 2017 that Rsia’s so-lled “gay propaganda 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.

“Above all, by adoptg such laws the urt found that the thori had rerced stigma and prejudice and enuraged homophobia, which was patible wh the valu – of equaly, pluralism and tolerance – of a mocratic society, ” the urt document said.

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

MOSCOW, Nov 24 (Rters) - Rsia's parliament approved on Thursday a bill that wins a prohibn of "LGBT propaganda" and rtricts the "monstratn" of LGBT behavur, makg any exprsn of an LGBT liftyle almost the new law, which still needs the approval of the upper hoe of parliament and Print Vladimir Put, any actn or rmatn that is nsired an attempt to promote homosexualy - whether public, onle, or films, books or advertisg - uld cur a heavy fe. Rights groups say the new law is tend to drive so-lled "non-tradnal" LGBT liftyl practised by lbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgenr people out of public life altogether.

'HYBRID WARFARE'"LGBT today is an element of hybrid warfare and this hybrid warfare we mt protect our valu, our society and our children, " Alexanr Khste, one of the bill's archects, said last experts said the vaguens of the bill's language giv room for law enforcers to terpret them as broadly as they wish, leavg members of the LGBT muny a state of even greater take part the LGBT (lbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenr) muny rally "VIII St. REUTERS/Anton Vaganov/File PhotoKseniya Mikhailova of the LGBT support group Vykhod ("Comg Out") said adults-only gay bars or clubs would probably still be allowed to functn, although perhaps not to advertise, but that same-sex kissg public might be taken as an she said same-sex upl would beg to fear that their children might be taken om them on the grounds that they were havg an LGBT liftyle monstrated to law stipulat f of up to 400, 000 roubl ($6, 600) for dividuals and up to 5 ln roubl ($82, 100) for legal enti. The ntroversial law was met wh cricism and ridicule Wtern untri, cludg a lg the European Court of Human Rights 2017 that stated Rsia’s “gay propaganda law” is discrimatory, promot homophobia and vlat the European Conventn on Human Rights.

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

(Mosw) – A draft bill before Rsia’s parliament would signifintly affect the rights of lbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenr (LGBT) people, Human Rights Watch said today. It has been ed to jtify a crimal vtigatn of social workers who allowed a gay uple, married abroad, to adopt children, forcg the fay to flee to the Uned Stat. 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.

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.

”The crackdown on LGBTQ+ people started a ago when Print Vladimir Put first proclaimed a foc on “tradnal fay valu, ” a move arntly supported — and fueled, to a certa extent — by the Rsian Orthodox 2013, the Kreml adopted the first legislatn rtrictg LGBTQ+ rights, known as the “gay propaganda” law that banned any public endorsement of “nontradnal sexual relatns” among mors.

RSIA NOT ONLY COUNTRY WH ANTI-GAY LAWS

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.

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. 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.

WHY RSIA IS SO ANTI-GAY

As the Kreml prepared to falize the expansn of the 2013 discrimatory anti-gay law, members of the LGBTQ muny Rsia told CNN they feared the uncerta future ahead. 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.

Sce the first law on “gay propaganda” passed 2013, Rsia has seen repeated crackdowns on the gay muny, most notably 2017 and aga 2019 the southern regn of Chechnya, where activists reported dozens of men and women were taed and some tortured and killed for their sexual orientatn, and no proper vtigatn followed. “This is not only an anti-gay law, this is also explicly an anti-trans law, ” said Vanya Solovey, an advocy and program officer for Eastern Europe and Central Asia at the trans rights group Transgenr Europe, referencg the part of the package that forbids the promotn of rmatn that uld e people to want to change their genr assigned at birth.

”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. 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.