'Our mere existence is illegal.' As Mosw toughens anti-gay law, LGBTQ Rsians fear for the future | CNN

Contents:

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

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

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.

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.

RSIA: EXPAND 'GAY PROPAGANDA' BAN PROGRS TOWARD LAW

”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. 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. "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 stance.

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 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. 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.

WHY RSIA IS SO ANTI-GAY

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.

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

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.

RSIA PASS ANTI-GAY-LAW

Shortly before the State Duma approved the 2013 legislatn a 436-0 vote, people prottg the bill's passg were attacked by those wh anti-LGBTQ+ viewpots before beg taed by Rsia crimalized homosexualy 1993, amendments to the Rsian Constutn 2020 banned LGBTQ+ unns the untry — an actn that was clared a human rights vlatn by the European Court of Human Rights. Marie Stthers, the anizatn's director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, said a statement, "In Rsia's new era of reprsn, state-sanctned homophobia is about to be ramped up to a whole new level. ""The new draft 'gay propaganda' law not only brazenly priv LGBTI people of their right to eedom of exprsn and endors their discrimatn, but will likely also lead to an crease vlent attacks and other hate crim agast them, " Stthers add.

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

"Rsia has also been cricized recent years for s treatment of LGBTQ+ people Chechnya, whose mayor nounced homosexualy 2017, statg "We don't have those kds of people here. Brish gay rights activist Peter Tatchell stag an anti-Put prott agast the mistreatment of LGBT people Rsia ont of a monument to Soviet Marshal Gey Zhov on Manezhnaya Square Mosw on June 14, 2018. (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. Nearly three-quarters of Rsians believe that homosexually is morally unacceptable, more than disapprove of other hot-button issu such as extramaral affairs, gamblg and numbers e om newly released data om the Pew Rearch Center, which surveyed Rsians on their moral attus sprg 2013.

Jt eight months before the gam, Rsia's ernmental body, the Duma, passed a law makg illegal to distribute homosexual "propaganda" to mors, which clus stagg gay pri events and advotg for gay law also bans foreign same-sex upl om adoptg Rsian the openg day of the Olympics (Feb. [5 Myths About Gay People Debunked]History of anti-gay attusUnrstandg Rsia's wispread gay sentiment requir a look back, said Tatiana Mikhailova, a senr stctor of Rsian Studi at the Universy of Colorado, Boulr.

RSIA NOT ONLY COUNTRY WH ANTI-GAY LAWS

In 1716, homosexualy among ary men was ma punishable by floggg, rape and forced labor, acrdg to Dan Healy, a profsor of Rsian history at Oxford Universy. In 1835, Czar Nicholas I extend the ban on male same-sex relatnships to revolutnari threw out the Czarist legal and drew up their own, which did not crimalize homosexualy. Joseph Stal, who nsolidated power over the 1920s, and his secret police appotee, Genrikh Yagoda, drafted a new law penalizg homosexuals, whom they portrayed as spi and sundrels.

"Where gays are allowed, pedophilia will soon flourish, " says Rsian Orthodox prit Sergei Rybko a new BBC documentary, "Hunted, " released this month, that explor vlence toward Rsian Rsian Orthodox Church is a major driver of anti-gay public opn, Mikhailova said, but there is a paradox at most untri, religsy is lked to anti-gay attus. Few Rsians say relign is central to their liv; the untry sr on par wh many Wtern European untri terms of lack of religsy, but only 9 percent of Rsians say homosexualy is acceptable the new survey. Another 9 percent say homosexualy is not a moral issue, and 72 percent say beg gay is parison, 69 percent of Rsians say extramaral affairs are unacceptable, 62 percent disapprove of gamblg, and 44 percent say abortn is immoral.