Russia's Parliament Passes Law Banning 'LGBT Propaganda' Among Adults

The Russian parliament approved a law on Thursday, November 24, that expands the definition of 'LGBT promotion' and prohibits the 'demonstration' of LGBT behaviour, making any display of an LGBT lifestyle nearly impossible.

Any action or material that is thought to attempt to promote homosexuality, whether in public, online, or in films, books, or advertisements, might result in a significant fine under the new law, which still requires the approval of the upper house of parliament and President Vladimir Putin.

Previously, the law simply forbade the advertising of LGBT lifestyles to youngsters. The new law forbids "demonstrating" LGBT behaviour to children. A common explanation for Russia's military intervention in Ukraine is that lawmakers are defending the historic values of the "Russian world" against a liberal West they claim is out to destroy them.

Authorities have already stopped gay pride marches and detained LGBT rights activists using the current law. Rights organisations assert that the goal of the new law is to completely banish from public life the so-called "non-traditional" LGBT lifestyles pursued by lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, and transgender individuals.

Legal experts claimed that the bill's ambiguous language allows law enforcers to interpret it however broadly they see fit, further confusing LGBT people.

Russian Law Bans LGBT Propaganda Among Adults

Adult-only homosexual bars and clubs will likely still be able to operate, albeit perhaps not to advertise, according to Kseniya Mikhailova of the LGBT support group Vykhod (Coming Out), but same-sex kissing in public may be considered a violation. And she predicted that same-sex couples would start to worry that their kids would be taken away because they were seeing an LGBT lifestyle promoted in front of them.

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Under the law, fines of up to 400,000 roubles (S$9,098) for individuals and up to 5 million roubles for legal corporations are allowed. Foreigners could be detained for 15 days before being kicked out of the country.

Mikhailova claimed that the original ban on LGBT "propaganda" toward minors, which was enacted nine years ago, had led to a wave of attacks against the LGBT community and that it could now anticipate a "tsunami" because the amendment in effect "says the state is not against violence towards LGBT people."

Ekaterina Schulmann, a political scientist, stated that the rule was intended to forbid anything that implied LGBT relationships or tendencies were "socially acceptable" or "equivalent to so-called traditional family bonds or sexual relations." In a Cologne, Germany, interview, she stated that "people" (writers, publishers, and regular people) would "think twice" before even saying anything linked to LGBT.
According to Schulmann, the law was also a "huge win" for Roskomnadzor, the communications regulator, which had previously "assumed the powers of a political police" and now had the responsibility and ability to monitor all information in search of LGBT propaganda.