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

Contents:

• RSIAN LAWMAKERS MOVE TO TOUGHEN ‘GAY PROPAGANDA’ LAW, BANNG ALL ADULTS OM ‘PROMOTG’ SAME-SEX RELATNSHIPS
• RSIA: EXPAND 'GAY PROPAGANDA' BAN PROGRS TOWARD LAW
• EXPLAER: WHAT DO NEW ‘GAY PROPAGANDA’ LAW MEAN FOR LGBTIQ+ RSIANS?
• RSIA’S “GAY PROPAGANDA” LAW
• RSIA PASS LAW BANNG GAY 'PROPAGANDA'
• RSIAN ‘GAY PROPAGANDA LAW’ DISCRIMATORY, EUROPEAN URT L
• RSIAN PARLIAMENT MOV TO EXPAND 'GAY PROPAGANDA' LAW
• WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT RSIA’S SO-CALLED ‘GAY PROPAGANDA’ BILL

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

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.

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: EXPAND 'GAY PROPAGANDA' BAN PROGRS TOWARD LAW

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. “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. In Rsia, antipathy towards homosexualy and genr variance is not new—LGBT people there have long faced threats, bullyg, abe si their fai, and discrimatn—but the 2013 “gay propaganda” law has creased that social hostily.

And while Rsian ernment officials and parliament members claim that the goal of the “gay propaganda” law is to protect children om potentially harmful subject matter, the law fact directly harms children by nyg them accs to sential rmatn and creasg stigma agast LGBT youth and their fai. While some LGBT youth told that teachers had supported and protected them, many others said their teachers characterize LGBT people as a symptom of perversn imported om Wtern Europe or North Ameri, mirrorg the polil homophobia that motivated the passage of the “gay propaganda” law the first place.

Some explaed that they felt forced to speak about sexual orientatn and genr inty only phemisms, or to say explicly at the outset of unselg ssns that they nnot and will not dissemate “gay propaganda” attempts to dispel advance any notn that they are vlatg the law.

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

Instct relevant law enforcement agenci, such as the office of the prosecutor general, the Mistry of Interr, and the Invtigative Commtee, to gather data about homophobic and transphobic crim, and make such data publicly available. In le wh the June 2013 EU guil on promotg and protectg the enjoyment of all human rights by lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr and tersex (LGBTI) persons, support iativ to provi assistance and redrs for victims of such vlence, civil society and ernmental monorg of s volvg vlence, and trag of law enforcement personnel.

Same-sex relatns between men were crimalized 1993, two years after the breakup of the Soviet Unn, and 1999 the Rsian Mistry of Health regnized the standards of the Internatnal Classifitn of Diseas (ICD), which had been revised 1990 to remove a diagnosis for homosexualy.

RSIA’S “GAY PROPAGANDA” LAW

The harng of negative social attus cis wh the creasg spread of hateful, anti-LGBT rhetoric, cludg by public officials the media, and the promulgatn of regnal and natnal anti-LGBT “gay propaganda” laws that prohib the “promotn” of “nontradnal sexual relatns to mors, ”[12] unrstood to mean the pictn of LGBT people anythg other than a negative light. In early 2017, law enforcement and secury officials Chechnya systematilly round up dozens of men spected of beg gay, held them for days secret lotns, and subjected them to huiatn, starvatn, and other torture, forcg them to hand over rmatn about other men who might be gay. On June 30, 2013, Dmry Isakov held a one-mute prott on the central square of Kazan, a cy 800 kilometers east of Mosw, holdg a poster that said: “Beg gay and lovg gays is normal; beatg gays and killg gays is crimal.

The missn stated that Neverov had posted on his Vkontake acunt “some pictur (photos) of young men whose appearance (partly nu body parts) had the characteristics of propaganda of homosexual relatns acrdg to the expert opn. In 2014, for example, one high-level church official said that same-sex relatns should be “pletely elimated” om Rsian society, preferably through “moral persuasn” but if necsary through a public referendum on recrimalizg homosexualy. David O., 18, said, “My teacher once brought up the issue of homosexualy class—[sayg] is personal bs but that she do not support the upbrgg of children such fai bee the child will not be fully happy whout a mother.

RSIA PASS LAW BANNG GAY 'PROPAGANDA'

Nora T., a 17-year-old llege stunt who intifi as pansexual, said that at the school she attend until she was 15-years-old, “The teachers spoke about LGBT people as people who need mental health re and that homosexualism is a mental illns. David O., an 18-year-old gay universy stunt Mosw, scribed to Human Rights Watch how his high school, classmat, due to their lack of tn on sexual orientatn and genr inty, flted to pejorative stereotyp:. While Rsian ernment officials and parliament members claim that the goal of the “gay propaganda” law is to protect children om potentially harmful subject matter, the law directly harms children by nyg them accs to sential rmatn and fosterg stigma agast LGBT children and their fai.

Meyer wrote that “the propaganda law do not advance any legimate goal protectg the health of youth bee there is no supportable nnectn between the means (supprsg homosexual propaganda) and the alleged goals (protectg the health of youth). ” He add: “Furthermore, laws such as Rsia’s propaganda law n have ser negative impact on the health and well-beg of homosexual youth and adults that the law creas and enshr stigma and prejudice, leadg to discrimatn and vlence, and, th, creasg risk for mental distrs and suici iatn. Rearch other untri has found that lack of support ntribut to negative mental health out; one study, lbian, gay and bisexual stunts environments wh fewer supports like gay/straight allianc, clive anti-bullyg polici and clive non-discrimatn polici were 20 percent more likely to attempt suici than those more supportive environments.

This psychologist, who has more than a of profsnal experience, explaed that, “In s of fay vlence, when police fd out that boys have been beaten by their parents for beg gay—the police see that as a valid reason for beatg him and don’t take the se serly. A social worker who ordat referrals to psychologists and ns a support group for LGBT youth said: “In general, even Mosw, the teenagers do not risk raisg this subject [of homosexualy] wh specialists—and I thk they are right to behave that way.

RSIAN ‘GAY PROPAGANDA LAW’ DISCRIMATORY, EUROPEAN URT L

Rsia’s “gay propaganda” laws “rerce stigma and prejudice and enurage homophobia, which is patible wh the notns of equaly, pluralism and tolerance herent a mocratic society, ”[198] as the European Court of Human Rights nclud a 2017 se. In addn, as monstrated this report and elsewhere, the “gay propaganda” laws ntribute to vlence and other forms of harassment agast LGBT youth, vlatn of the rights to secury of person and eedom om vlence, the right to health, and the right to tn. [206] As the Council of Europe’s Steerg Commtee for Human Rights has observed, “thori have a posive obligatn to take effective measur to protect and ensure the rpect of lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr persons who wish to...

As the European Commissn for Democracy through Law (known as the Venice Commissn), the Council of Europe’s advisory body on nstutnal matters, nclud after analyzg “gay propaganda” laws enacted or proposed Rsia and other Council of Europe member stat:. Siarly, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe observed 2013 that “gay propaganda” laws “are at variance wh eedom of exprsn and the prohibn of discrimatn on acunt of sexual orientatn and genr inty [and] risk legimisg the prejudice and hostily which is prent society and fuellg a climate of hatred agast LGBT people.

It is th not clear om the se law applyg the provisns, whether the terms “prohibn of homosexual propaganda” have to be terpreted rtrictively, or whether they ver any rmatn or opn favour of homosexualy, any attempt to change the homophobic attu on the part of the populatn towards gays and lbians, any attempt to unterbalance the sometim eply rooted prejudic, by dissematg unbiased and factual rmatn on sexual orientatn. Sendly, seems that the prohibn would more often, although not necsarily, affect persons of homosexual/lbian sexual orientatn, who have a personal tert argug for toleratn of homosexual/lbian sexual orientatn and s acceptance by the majory.

RSIAN PARLIAMENT MOV TO EXPAND 'GAY PROPAGANDA' LAW

[229] Siarly, the European Court of Human Rights has found, most recently s 2017 judgment, that Rsia’s “gay propaganda” laws embody “predisposed bias, unambiguoly highlighted by [their] domtic terpretatn and enforcement. [243] Evaluatg the “gay propaganda” laws 2017, the European Court of Human Rights “reject[ed] the Government’s claim that regulatg public bate on LGBT issu may be jtified on the grounds of protectn of morals.

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

Rsia, the European Court on Human Rights asssed whether a ban on pri march and other public monstratns by LGBT activists was jtifiable on the basis that protected children om harm, ncludg, “There is no scientific evince or soclogil data at the Court’s disposal suggtg that the mere mentn of homosexualy, or open public bate about sexual mori’ social stat, would adversely affect children.... In this regard, a ccial first step is to repeal the “gay propaganda” laws, which enurage and rerce discrimatory attus[268] and “lead to the targetg and ongog persecutn of the untry’s LGBTI muny, cludg through abe and vlence, particular agast unrage LGBTI rights activists. ”[275] A curriculum that ignor the needs of LGBT stunts “normaliz, stereotyp, and promot imag that are discrimatory bee they are based on heteronormativy; by nyg the existence of the lbian, gay, transsexual, transgenr and bisexual populatn, they expose the groups to risky and discrimatory practic.

This re obligatn clus the obligatn to repeal laws—such as Rsia’s “gay propaganda” laws—that “obstct or unrme accs by dividuals or a particular group” to sexual and reproductive health rmatn, [289] and to ensure that everybody has “accs to prehensive tn and rmatn on sexual and reproductive health that are non-discrimatory, non-biased, evince-based, and that take to acunt the evolvg paci of children and adolcents. 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.