1: president vladimir putin proposed a new law in russia which bans ‘propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations’ and carries a fine of up to 400,000 roubles ($5,840; â£4,730). this law follows a bill that passed ten years ago, banning “gay propaganda” in relation to children. as a result of the new law, danya, a drag artist from st petersburg, has decided to leave russia and move to france.
paragraph 2: the bill passed ten years ago was followed by an increase in homophobic violence in russia and the new law has already had a chilling effect on the lgbt community, with online cinemas deleting lgbt-themed films and tv series and bookshops withdrawing titles with lgbt themes from sale. piotr voznesensky, an lgbt activist, had opened russia’s first lgbt museum in september of last year, but it had to close due to the new law.
paragraph 3: the law was proposed by president vladimir putin in order to combat “western” values, referring to lgbt rights as “pure satanism” in a speech at the kremlin. the co-author of the law, vitaly milonov, denies that the law is discriminatory, claiming that people’s private lives will be respected. olga baranova from the moscow community centre for lgbt+ initiatives believes that the new law will lead to further stigmatisation of lgbt people in russia. piotr voznesensky believes the connection to the war in ukraine is clear.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-64345693?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA
