Saint Petersburg, long considered Russia’s most beautiful, artistic, and Western-leaning city, took a giant leap backward toward the Stone Age today with the passage of a bill that imposes fines of up to 500,000 rubles (about $17,200) for the “promotion of homosexuality.”
Russia’s second biggest city follow three others in the passage of the outrageously archaic legislation, which effectively makes it illegal to write books, publish articles, or speak in public about being gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender.
The Saint Petersburg City Council voted overwhelmingly in favor of the bill in its third and final reading, with 29 yays, five nays, and one abstention.
Before becoming law in the city, the bill must now be signed by regional governor Georgy Poltavchenko — but since Poltavchenko has previously expressed his view that the legislation would “serve for the good of public morals,” his signature is all but a given.
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Proponents of the bill have already said that if they were successful in Saint Petersburg, their next step will be to take it to the national stage.
Flash mobs took to the streets outside Russian embassies across the world earlier this week in efforts to stop the bill’s passage. Two AllOut.org petitions—one directed to world leaders, the other to Poltavchenko himself and promising a global travel boycott of the city—have also sought to stop the legislation.
Photo by yasmapaz & ace_heart
prince of snides aka divkid
this from the city of state-sanctioned horse fucking. catherine the great will be turning in her y-shaped coffin.
Jasonb84
If your able to get out of Russia, my advice is to do so. Let them live in there own hatred.
Sarina
It’s no use. It’s best to leave Russia, because the country is stuck in the 13th century.
Alex
They need to have their own stonewall riots. That is the only thing that can fix this. It is the same as back in the 60’s and 70’s you couldn’t even mention the word gay. Stand up for your selves LGBT Russia!
Jonathonz
This is so sad. I’ll bet it won’t stand long.
Triple S
Russia is, and will be for a long time yet, one of the most fucked up places on the planet. I feel sorry for these poor people. Officially, it’s just a fine (albeit, an effing huge one), but I’ll bet that if you’re found out, then it won’t just disappear after a while. The snowball is picking up momentum.
Hephaestion
Now rolling over in their graves: Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky, Rudolph Nureyev, Diaghilev, Sergei Eisentein, Sviatoslav Richter, Vladimir Horowitz, Vaslav Nijinsky, Marina Tsvetaeva and Sergei Esenin, among others.
Trip
Wondering how they’ll promote their gay bars now, since it’s illegal to “promote” homosexuality.
B
Re No 7: Horowitz was out of the Russia (rather, the Soviet Union) from 1925 onwards, except for a visit in 1986. I heard him perform twice in concerts, but had no idea that he might have been gay.
Banning “homosexual propaganda” might not be a bad idea – it would have put a damper on the advertising used to pass Proposition Eight. Of course, we can’t do that here due to the First Amendment. Too bad the Russian law was written so it couldn’t be twisted around to ban anti-gay propaganda! Having it backfire in that way would have been hilarious.
Mark Moscow
It is the project of Orthodox Church. Abraham’s religions are main enemies!