Russian Lawmakers Pass Law Banning LGBTQ ‘Propaganda’ Among All Ages

The Russian parliament passed a bill on Thursday that effectively outlaws any public demonstration of an LGBTQ lifestyle and behavior, as it expands a ban on “LGBT propaganda.”

According to the Guardian, the law criminalizes any attempt to promote “non-traditional sexual relations” in movies, online, advertisements, or in public.

It’s an amendment to a legislation passed in 2013 that was used to detain LGBT rights activists and barred the “promotion of nontraditional sexual relations” among minors.

“Today, such a ban (propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations) applies exclusively to children. Of course, this is clearly not enough,” said Alexander Khinshtein, chairman of the State Duma’s information committee.

“We propose to generally extend the ban on such propaganda regardless of the age of the audience (offline, in the media, on the internet, social networks and online cinemas),” he added.

“[We will] establish a separate, even more stringent responsibility for promoting pedophilia [and] prohibit the dissemination among children not only of propaganda, but of any other information demonstrating non-traditional sexual relations and perversions,” Khinshtein wrote in a message on his Telegram channel.

A fine of up to $6,000 (or 400,000 rubles) will be imposed on those who demonstrate ‘LGBTQ propaganda.’ Companies or other legal organizations can be penalized up to $82,100 (5 million rubles).

Noncitizens will be subject to detention for up to 15 days or removal from the country.

The Guardian reported:

The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, is expected to sign the bill in the coming days.

Since the start of the war in Ukraine, the Kremlin has launched a fresh effort to promote “traditional values”, with the Russian leader making anti-gay rhetoric one of the cornerstones of his political agenda.

In a recent speech, Putin accused the west of “moving towards open satanism”, citing the promotion of gay and transgender rights in Europe as an example.

Alexander Khinshtein, a senior lawmaker and one of the bill’s designers, said the war in Ukraine had given the proposed anti-LGBTQ+ law “new relevance”.

“The special military operation takes place not only on the battlefield but also in the minds and souls of people,” Khinshtein said, referring to the conflict in Ukraine.

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