Young mothers Yana and Yaroslava don’t want to leave Rsia wh their 6-year-old son. But they fear a harsh new anti-gay law passed by Rsian lawmakers will leave them ltle choice.
Contents:
- EXPLAER: WHAT DO NEW ‘GAY PROPAGANDA’ LAW MEAN FOR LGBTIQ+ RSIANS?
- ‘OUR MERE EXISTENCE IS ILLEGAL.’ AS MOSW TOUGHENS ANTI-GAY LAW, LGBTQ RSIANS FEAR FOR THE FUTURE
- RSIAN PARLIAMENT MOV TO EXPAND 'GAY PROPAGANDA' LAW
- RSIAN ‘GAY PROPAGANDA LAW’ DISCRIMATORY, EUROPEAN URT L
- WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT RSIA’S SO-CALLED ‘GAY PROPAGANDA’ BILL
- RSIA PROPOS EXTENDG ‘GAY PROPAGANDA’ LAW TO ALL ADULTS
EXPLAER: WHAT DO NEW ‘GAY PROPAGANDA’ LAW MEAN FOR LGBTIQ+ RSIANS?
* russian gay propaganda laws *
The discrimatory law propos to ban all Rsians om promotg or “praisg” homosexual relatnships or publicly suggtg that they are “normal.
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. Homosexualy was crimalized Rsia 1993, but homophobia and discrimatn is still rife.
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.”. 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 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.
‘OUR MERE EXISTENCE IS ILLEGAL.’ AS MOSW TOUGHENS ANTI-GAY LAW, LGBTQ RSIANS FEAR FOR THE FUTURE
“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. As a gay man a untry that ma anti-gay iology a foundatn of s anti-Ukrae propaganda, he feared for his life every day.
In his seven years as a gay activist, Maysky has never seen Rsian-speakg LGBTQ+ immigrants g to California such great numbers. 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. Thoands of members of the LGBTQ+ muny are fleeg Rsia’s anti-gay laws.
“My parents are very nservative and they don’t believe gay people should exist, ” said Max, who didn’t disclose his last name for fear of retaliatn agast his parents who live St.
RSIAN PARLIAMENT MOV TO EXPAND 'GAY PROPAGANDA' LAW
Most of his iends are the closet or fled the untry — and many of them, he said, were vlently attacked by anti-gay groups before they left. Thoands of members of the LGBTQ+ muny are fleeg Rsia due to anti-gay laws.
RSIAN ‘GAY PROPAGANDA LAW’ DISCRIMATORY, EUROPEAN URT L
A survey published 2020 by Mosw-based non-ernmental rearch anizatn the Levada Center, found that about 30% of Rsians wanted to isolate gay people om society. One of the rearchers, Ekatera Kochega, told NBC News that many Rsians “would not want to see gay people existg. Although is not illegal to be an LGBTQ+ person Rsia, a ago the Kreml passed a so-lled “gay propaganda law” banng the distributn of rmatn about gay relatnships among mors.
Maksim and Dmrii say they n’t wa to marry and start a fay, somethg that they, as gay men, wouldn’t be able to experience back home. 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?
The expand law will make providg rmatn about homosexualy – and even childls fai – legally on a par wh pornography or promotg suici, vlence and crimal or extremist behavur. The ‘gay propaganda’ law already posed onle obstacl for Rsian LGBTIQ rights anisatns, requirg their webs to rry an 18+ label.
WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT RSIA’S SO-CALLED ‘GAY PROPAGANDA’ BILL
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.
This April, the Charable Foundatn Sphere, which provis fancial support to LGBTIQ iativ across Rsia, was the ‘gay propaganda’ law crease vlence agast LGBTIQ people?
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. Nearly a third of the cints of vlence were mted by anised homophobic and transphobic vigilante survey also found that law enforcement and judicial systems refe to vtigate such crim, spe the fact that homosexualy was crimalised Rsia 1993. The law propos to ban all Rsians om promotg or “praisg” homosexual relatnships or publicly suggtg that they are “normal.
RSIA PROPOS EXTENDG ‘GAY PROPAGANDA’ LAW TO ALL ADULTS
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. In December 2022, Rsia expand s existg “gay propaganda” law to exert ntrol over public discsns and narrativ surroundg non-heterosexual relatnships and inti.