Russia is considering doubling fines for exposing children to what it calls “LGBT propaganda” and making any event or act deemed to promote homosexuality an administrative offence, the text of the new legislation showed. proposal that was made public on Wednesday.
Russia’s existing “gay propaganda” law, passed in 2013, bars any person or entity from promoting same-sex relationships between children, though lawmakers argued in July that the law should be extended to include adults as well.
Under the proposed legislation, the penalty for promoting “non-traditional sexual relations” among children would be doubled to 2 million rubles ($33,000) for entities, and increased to 5 million rubles if the offense was committed online or in the public domain. media.
Individuals could be fined up to 400,000 rubles, while foreigners who spread “LGBT propaganda” would face deportation from Russia.
“Currently, the liability only applies to LGBT propaganda among children. My committee colleagues and I would like to extend it to any propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations, regardless of age,” said lawmaker Alexander Khinshtein.
The bill is expected to be debated after the start of the state Duma’s autumn session, Khinshtein added.
Russian authorities say they are defending morality against what they argue are non-Russian liberal values promoted by the West, but human rights activists say the law has been widely used to intimidate Russia’s LGBT community.
TikTok, a video-sharing app, was threatened with a 4 million ruble fine on Tuesday after a Russian court heard it promoted “LGBT-themed videos,” while the country’s media regulator asked a union of publishers last week to consider withdrawing from sale all books that spread “LGBT propaganda.
Authorities had previously used the law to stop gay pride marches and detain gay rights activists. The latest proposals, if passed, would significantly expand the scope of this law.
In this year’s “Rainbow Europe” index compiled by ILGA-Europe, a ranking of the most LGBT-friendly nations in Europe, Russia came in second to last.
(1 dollar = 60.3290 rubles)