Russia Mulls Broadening Scope of National 'Don't Say Gay' Law
With the country suffering from international sanctions as a result of its invasion of neighboring democracy Ukraine, Russian lawmakers have zeroed in on what they seem to think is a critical issue: Broadening the scope of its anti-LGBTQ+ "propaganda" law, according to NBC News.
In its current form, the 2013 law forbids any expression of support for or belonging to the LGBTQ+ community where minors might witness it. But Mother Russia is so concerned for the moral well-being of her grown children that lawmakers are now considering making it a crime for any such expression to be made where adults could see or hear it, too.
As it stands, the 2013 law "has been used to stop gay pride marches and detain gay rights activists," NBC News noted. But the changes Russian lawmakers are considering would criminalize "any event or act regarded as an attempt to promote homosexuality," regardless who might see it, and "could incur a fine."
NBC News relayed that one Russian official, Alexander Khinshtein, took to Telegram to outline the changes that lawmakers have in mind: "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)."
While a focus on such issues may seem like frippery in the face of Russia's ongoing military assault against neighboring Ukraine, that same war has, in a way, allowed the proposed change to the law, the article noted.
"Parliamentary Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said last week that since Russia had quit the Council of Europe human rights watchdog after sending troops into Ukraine, it would now be able to ban the promotion of 'non-traditional values,'" the article said.
Russia has long portrayed equality under the law as an unwelcome "Western ideology." Volodin seemed to be speaking from such an assumption when he added, "Demands to legalize same-sex marriages in Russia are a thing of the past," and declared, "Attempts to impose alien values on our society have failed."