Russia moves to enact anti-gay law nationwide
Source: Associated Press
MOSCOW (AP) -- Kissing his boyfriend during a protest in front of Russia's parliament earned Pavel Samburov 30 hours of detention and the equivalent of a $16 fine on a charge of "hooliganism." But if a bill that comes up for a first vote later this month becomes law, such a public kiss could be defined as illegal "homosexual propaganda" and bring a fine of up to $16,000.
The legislation being pushed by the Kremlin and the Russian Orthodox Church would make it illegal nationwide to provide minors with information that is defined as "propaganda of sodomy, lesbianism, bisexuality and transgenderism." It includes a ban on holding public events that promote gay rights. St. Petersburg and a number of other Russian cities already have similar laws on their books.
The bill is part of an effort to promote traditional Russian values as opposed to Western liberalism, which the Kremlin and church see as corrupting Russian youth and by extension contributing to a wave of protest against President Vladimir Putin's rule.
Samburov describes the anti-gay bill as part of a Kremlin crackdown on minorities of any kind - political and religious as well as sexual - designed to divert public attention from growing discontent with Putin's rule.
Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_RUSSIA_ANTI_GAY_LAW_?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-01-21-08-14-43
Franker65
(299 posts)Times are changing, they need to move with it or there'll be serious problems.
dballance
(5,756 posts)Right along with all their in-the-closet ministers and priests.
RKP5637
(67,101 posts)ReRe
(10,597 posts)... where all the bigots will be in one country, all the gun-nuts in another, all the religious fundamentalists in another, all the savage vulture capitalists & their corporations are in another, etc., etc., etc. And all the democracy lovin' folks like us will be in OUR country. Wouldn't that just be dandy? And I'm serious. Utopia? Why not? Please. Let me dream, just this one beautiful day.
SWTORFanatic
(385 posts)In all seriousness, this is ridiculous. Thank you Adolf Putin.
RKP5637
(67,101 posts)target. And yet another example IMO of the misery religion brings to humanity! Soon, the KGB will be after all if not already. A return to the good old times, yet more backwardness on a spinning ball of dirt quarantined to a remote corner of the universe.
bemildred
(90,061 posts)More religious twaddle and nationalist minority bashing.
Doctor_J
(36,392 posts)they'll fit right in
Deep13
(39,154 posts)...the Russian Orthodox Church, whose membership has spiked since the fall of Communism.
pampango
(24,692 posts)samsingh
(17,594 posts)Deep13
(39,154 posts)Part of Russia's slide into fascism, I guess.