Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday signed a bill extending a ban on so-called LGBTQ “propaganda” in Russia, making it illegal for anyone to promote same-sex relationships or suggest that non-heterosexual orientations are “normal”.
The ban was endorsed by Putin days after a tough new “foreign agents” law came into force as the Kremlin cracks down on free speech and human rights as its military operation in Ukraine falters.
The new laws significantly expand the scope of a 2013 law that prohibited the dissemination of LGBTQ-related information to minors. The new iteration extends the ban on promoting such information to adults.
The new laws make it illegal to promote or “praise” LGBTQ relationships, publicly express non-heterosexual orientations or suggest they are “normal”.
The package of amendments signed by Putin includes tougher penalties for anyone who promotes “non-traditional sexual relationships and/or preferences”, as well as pedophilia and gender transition. Under the new law, it will be banned across the internet, media, books, audiovisual services, cinema and advertising.
Under the new law, people can be fined up to 400,000 rubles ($6,370) for “LGBT propaganda” and up to 200,000 rubles ($3,185) for “LGBT demonstrations and information that encourages gender reassignment among teenagers.” .
These fines amount to up to 5 million rubles ($80,000) and 4 million rubles ($64,000) respectively for legal entities.
The law was approved by Russia’s upper and lower houses in recent weeks.
The European Court of Human Rights ruled in 2017 that the 2013 law was discriminatory, promoted homophobia and violated the European Convention on Human Rights.
The court found that the law “did not serve any legitimate public interest”, rejecting suggestions that public debate on LGBT issues could influence children to become gay or that it threatened public morals.
Homosexuality was decriminalized in Russia in 1993, but homophobia and discrimination are still widespread. It is ranked 46th out of 49 European countries for LGBTQ+ inclusion by the watchdog ILGA-Europe.
Speaking before Putin signed the bill into law on Monday, Tanya Lokshina, associate Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch said: “The 2013 ‘gay propaganda’ law was an unabashed example of political homophobia, and the new draft law reinforces it. in broader and harsher ways.”
But the expansion of the “LGBT propaganda” law is just the latest of many steps the Putin government has taken in recent months to crush the last vestiges of opposition, liberal values and free speech in Russia.
A new, expanded version of the 2012 Foreign Agents Act came into effect last week. While the original version required organizations engaged in political activity and receiving foreign funding to register as foreign agents and adhere to draconian rules and restrictions, the new law extends that requirement to anyone who “has received support and (or) is under foreign influence”. .
In early March, days after Putin ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Russian government passed a law criminalizing the dissemination of what it called “deliberately false” information about the Russian armed forces. The maximum penalty is 15 years in prison.
