Russia criminalizes ‘promoting’ LGBTQ relationships with new law

Russian parliament's lower house Duma on Thursday unanimously passed the final bill that bans the promotion of “LGBT propaganda” relationships expanding a law that was adopted in 2013. Any attempt to promote homosexuality within the country including in cinema, books, or advertising would incur a heavy penalty under the new package of legislation. The bill bans any and all forms of promotion or “praising” homosexual or LGBTQ+ relationships, gender reassignment surgery, or normalizing homosexual relations among the Russian population. Films that “promote non-traditional sexual relations” would also not be granted a rental license.

Russian Duma in the bill states that “the propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations,” could risk a fine of up to 400,000 rubles ($6,600), while organizations could risk 5 million rubles ($82,100 or Rs 5,42,351). A foreign national might face detention for up to 15 days and deportation if found violating the law. The original version of the law adopted in 2013 banned homosexual relations among minors but the new bill seeks to apply it to the adult population.

The bill will be passed to the Federation Council, Russia’s upper house of Parliament, and will be signed into law by Russian President Vladimir Putin. In 2017, the European Parliament called out against Russia's anti-LGBTQ law saying that it violates human rights, is discriminatory, promotes homophobia, and is in strict breach of the European Convention on Human Rights.

UN expresses concern over Russia's 'LGBTQ Propaganda Law'

United Nations had earlier slammed Russia against the implementation of the 'LGBTQ propaganda' law that potentially bans all discussion and sharing of information linked to LGBTQ or about their human rights. UN High Commissioner rejected the proposal and asked the legislators to instead repeal the existing law and take "urgent steps to prohibit and actively combat both discrimination and violence based on sexual orientation and gender identity." UN High Commissioner noted that "exclusion, stigmatization and discrimination of any group within a society is corrosive, is a root cause of violence, and has a negative impact on society as a whole."

Vyacheslav Volodin, Chairman of the State Duma justified Russia's proposal during the plenary session, saying Russia made the decision "solely in the interests of our citizens, in the interests of our country." He further noted, “We have traditions, a conscience, an understanding that we need to think about children, families, the country, and preserve what our parents have passed on to us."