Explaer: Rsia pass expand ‘gay propaganda law’ | openDemocracy

Contents:

• RSIA PASS LAW BANNG GAY 'PROPAGANDA'
• RSIA: EXPAND 'GAY PROPAGANDA' BAN PROGRS TOWARD LAW
• EXPLAER: WHAT DO NEW ‘GAY PROPAGANDA’ LAW MEAN FOR LGBTIQ+ RSIANS?

RSIA PASS LAW BANNG GAY 'PROPAGANDA'

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'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.

RSIA: EXPAND 'GAY PROPAGANDA' BAN PROGRS TOWARD LAW

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". 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.

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. 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.

EXPLAER: WHAT DO NEW ‘GAY PROPAGANDA’ LAW MEAN FOR LGBTIQ+ RSIANS?

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. Rsia’s so-lled ‘gay propaganda’ law has banned the promotn of “non-tradnal sexual valu” to unr-18s sce, the Rsian parliament has passed an expand versn of the law that outlaws all mentns of LGBTIQ-related topics the media – cludg film, televisn, advertisg, onle and ’s what you need to history of Rsia’s ‘gay propaganda’ lawOn 29 June 2013, Rsian print Vladimir Put signed a new law lled “On the propaganda of non-tradnal sexual relatns among mors”. The new law banned the promotn to children of “dgs, paedophilia and homosexualy” – or anythg else the Kreml ems ntradictory to “tradnal fay valu”, although the law do not fe what those valu are some siari wh the UK’s homophobic Sectn 28 legislatn, which prohibed the “promotn of homosexualy” by lol thori and was force om 1988 to Put claims that the propaganda law “do not discrimate agast gay people”, both the European Court of Human Rights and the UN’s Human Rights Commtee have said that rerc stigma, enurag homophobia and harms children the ’s new?

But now unr the new law, the s may shut down a , LGBTIQ rights groups and other non-ernmental anisatns receivg funds om abroad have also been legally required to self-intify as “foreign agents” echo the Natnal Secury bill proposed by nservative MP Pri Patel, which would make an offence for journalists or publitns receivg fundg om a foreign state to report on ‘rtricted’ official ’s Mistry of Jtice add the Rsian LGBT Network a proment gay and transgenr rights umbrella group, to the “foreign agent” registry November last then, an creasg number of LGBTIQ rights groups have been targeted – and even forcibly closed. Followg the troductn of the first versn of the ‘gay propaganda’ law almost a ago, the most flagrant vlatns of LGBTIQ rights have been documented the North Cs, pecially Chechnya, where secury forc have illegally taed, kidnapped, arrted, tortured and killed gay and transgenr 2021, 78% of rponnts to a natnwi survey by the Rsian LGBT Network reported that they had faced vlence or discrimatn nnectn to their genr inty and/or sexual orientatn.