Legislation similar to St. Petersburg’s anti-gay-propaganda law has been submitted to the lower house of Parliament, the Washington Post reports.
Writes the Post:
The bill calls for fines of up to 500,000 rubles ($16,500) for “spreading homosexual propaganda” among minors…
The legislation also calls for an up to 1 million ruble ($33,000) fine for material promoting pedophilia.
What a vile little Santorum-esque addendum, placing homosexuality in the same unlawful basket as pedophilia.
Activists from AllOut.org had warned that the passage of the bill in cosmopolitan St. Petersburg, Russia’s second-largest city, could pave the way for the nationalization of the anti-gay policy.
At this moment, we hope the people of Russia will take the time to watch AllOut’s moving video below, made in the run-up to the St. Petersburg ban, and urge their federal legislators not to take their country backward into history. They would do well to remind themselves of the pains and restrictions of their yesteryear—and, make no mistake, this is a step backward toward that.
comus
Well, when Madonna gives her concert in St. Petersburg–not to make money, mind you–she’ll speak out and all this will be addressed, right?
In the meantime everyone else should boycott Russia.
Bailey
madonna will make millions and pay about a $200 US fine.
hardly an inspiration.
anders
who cares
who the hell goes to russia anyway?? the place is a nasty shithole.
Belize
@anders: Ballet dancers who are dead serious about their craft. Mariinsky Ballet, one of the best ballet institutions in the world, is based in St.Petersburg Russia.
But then again, other than that you’re more or less right.
Financial instability and the creation of disgusting laws usually go hand in hand. Poor Russia. How the mighty have fallen.
the crustybastard
When South Africa wouldn’t abandon apartheid, civilized people organized DIVEST SOUTH AFRICA movements, promising boycotts of companies that did business with bigoted governments.
It worked.
Civilized people, once again, need to organize DIVEST movements against bigoted governments.
If it was right then, it’s right now.
MEJ
@the crustybastard:
Yes, but that was about racism, and those boyucotts made white liberals feel good about themselves. The great majority of the world’s hets don’t give a fuck about us.
Lumi Bast (@nugoyxi)
Disgusting. I wanted to visit both Moscow and St. Petersburg, and now in addition to the latter, I might not be visiting the former (I will not visit the entire country). The other thing that sucks about it (besides the treatment of LGBs there) is since I plan on getting involved in the professional wrestling industry, one of the places I would have liked to take my business is there. I also know that I won’t be buying anything from Russia.
anders
@Belize:
well russia was never really mighty. they may have had somewhat of a first rate military but the country itself has always been like a third world nation.
Danny
Everyone knows Russia has returned to its totalitarian roots and that it is breaking apart again. Two-thirds of every military on Earth has gay family members. Russia can be brought to an end whether the governments of Russia want it to happen or not; corrupt politicians and religious leaders are just speeding up its end. The reason they should not violate human rights is that their own are directly attached to their actions. Russia couldn’t stay intact the first time it broke apart; this is just an accelarated repeat of the same process.
Houston Bill
But the youth are fighting back. NSFW link of Russian 20 year olds protesting Putin and the Russian Orhodox Church by stripping to their underwear and frolicking in the central fountain of the GUM Department Store in Moscow (a major shopping mall).
It wasn’t a Gay protest, just a protest against the Russian Orthodox Church and Putin.
I guess some Russians have figured out a way to tweak Putin is to mock the Russian Orthodox Church’s moral laws.
http://redhotrussia.com/naked-protest-moscow-love-party/
However, unlike Gay Russians, who are arrested while fully clothed, straight Russians have to bath topless in a shopping mall pool to violate Russian standards.
I’d certainly never do this, and I seriously doubt any of the Gay LGBT activists in Russia would do this…but I kinda like the chaos. And the pretty pictures.
Palto
I’m so glad I got rid of my travel bug in my thirties. I hate traveling and this is one reason why. I’m 48 and never leaving my hometown of NYC ever again.
B
Re No 10, “NSFW link of Russian 20 year olds protesting Putin and the Russian Orhodox Church by stripping to their underwear and frolicking in the central fountain of the GUM Department Store in Moscow (a major shopping mall).”
… 75 percent of those who saw them probably thought it was an act put on by the store to attract customers.
Houston Bill
@B: Yea, apparently they went to the mall because the FSB (Russian “Security” Service) intercepted the bus with the other 20 people who were going to the original protest site, Red Square.
JTKlaus
Russia is a shithole, bomb the whole country. End White homophobia.
Auntie Mame
What happens in another country is none of our business. I thought George Bush taught us that much.
Houston Bill
@Auntie Mame: While military action in this case is not warrented, I would strongly disagree with your assertion that what goes on in Russia is ‘none of our buisiness.