New law would make it illegal to come out in Russia
If two Communist party lawmakers have their way, it could soon be illegal to come out as gay in Russia, Think Progress reports.
Two lawmakers are now drafting a bill that could mean LGBT people would be fined or face jail for “coming out” or making a “public confession of their non-traditional sexual orientation.”
Communist Party MPs Ivan Nikitchuk and Nikolay Arefyev have proposed the legislation, which would make such ‘public confessions’ punishable with fines ($64-$80) and up to 15 days in jail. Any “demonstration of one’s distorted sexual preferences in public places” would be considered illegal.
The proposed laws would go a further step ahead of what’s already illegal under Russia’s ban on ‘gay propaganda’. Introduced two years ago, that law prohibits any promotion of ‘non-traditional relationships’ that minors could be exposed to, and has lead to many arrests at LGBT rallies and protests.
These disturbing new proposed laws come in the wake of President Vladimir Putin insisting during a US television interview last month that LGBT Russians face “no persecution at all.”
“The problem of sexual minorities in Russia has been deliberately exaggerated from the outside for political reasons, I believe, without any good basis,” he said.
“I believe there should not be any criminal prosecution or infringement of people’s rights on the basis of race, ethnicity or sexual orientation. We don’t have that.
“We had prosecutions on the basis of homosexuality – we’ve abolished all that. We have no persecution at all. People of non-traditional sexual orientation work, they live in peace, they get promoted, they get state awards for their achievements – I personally give them medals.”
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