On 24 November, the Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament, unanimously passed the final bill. The law was adopted in 2013 and the new package of law broadens and strengthens it.
ILGA- Europe Russia ranks 46th out of 49 European countries for LGBTQ+ inclusion (Representational)
by Tirtho Banerjee‘Summer in a Pioneer Tie’, written by Elena Malisova and Katerina Silvanova, a novel about the love between Yuri, a 16-year-old boy, and Volodya, a 19-year-old undergraduate, is a smash hit and making waves everywhere.
And of course, it is the latest catalyst for legislation that expands Russia’s ban on the promotion of ‘LGBTQ+ propaganda’, which was signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday. It is the latest crackdown on the LGBTQ+ community and bans any public expression of “non-traditional sexual relations” within the Russian Federation.
On 24 November, the Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament, unanimously passed the final bill. The law was adopted in 2013 and the new package of legislation passed by a clear majority in the Russian parliament makes it comprehensive and stringent.
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Extension of 2013 Law
With the new law coming into force, heavy fines will be imposed on anyone trying to promote homosexuality in media, advertisements, films or social media within the country.
Those who do so can now be fined up to 400,000 rubles ($6,370 or Rs.5,24,158) for “LGBTQ+ propaganda” and up to 200,000 rubles ($3,185 or 2,62,079) may be fined. Gender among Adolescents”. For organisations, the fine can go up to five million rubles ($80,000 or Rs 65,83,880).
A foreign national can face arrest for up to 15 days and deportation if he violates the law.
Any march that suggests support for homosexuals is illegal and gay rights activists can now be jailed by Russian authorities under the new law.
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The new law prohibits the promotion or “praise” of gay or LGBTQ+ relationships, gender reassignment surgery, or the normalization of gay relationships among the Russian population. No one will be allowed to publicly express non-heterosexual orientations or promote that they are “normal”.
The 2013 law prohibited the dissemination of information to minors. The new law broadens the scope and makes such dissemination illegal among adults as well. The new law also prohibits propaganda about pedophilia.
Tanya Lokshina, associate Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch, reportedly said: “The 2013 ‘gay propaganda’ law was a clear example of political homophobia, and the new draft law amplifies it in broad and draconian ways.”
In 2017, the European Court of Human Rights said the 2013 law was discriminatory, promoted homophobia and violated the European Convention on Human Rights.
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How will it affect?
ILGA-Europe ranks Russia 46th out of 49 European countries for LGBTQ+ inclusion.
Since the ‘Gay Propaganda’ law took effect in 2013, Russia has used it to shut down websites that provide valuable information and services to teenagers across Russia and to block LGBTQ+ support groups from working with young people. prevent from doing. Extending the 2013 law, Russia has increased stigma against members of the LGBTQ+ community as well as their families. This would make ‘preconceived bias’ even worse.
The new law will also be used to ban independent book fairs and film festivals, thereby stifling freedom of expression. (Issuing rental or streaming certificates for films containing content that promotes homosexuality is prohibited under the new law).
In the past, Russia has cracked down on several LGBTQ+ groups – such as the Sphere Foundation – and the new law will give it more power to attack them. Some may even be tagged as “foreign agents” who receive foreign funding to promote anti-Russian “political activity”.
A 2019 poll indicated that 68 percent of the young Russian population feel that the LGBT+ community is “normal”. The new law is unlikely to reverse this trend. And the popularity of ‘Summer in a Pioneer Tie’ is proof enough of that.
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