(Moscow) Russia’s upper house of parliament has unanimously passed a bill that will significantly restrict activities promoting the LGBTQ+ community in the country.
The Federation Council quickly approved the bill on Wednesday, as did the lower house, known as the State Duma, last week. The document will now end up on the desk of President Vladimir Putin, who will formalize it as law.
In 2013, a law was passed to ban anything that, in the eyes of the authorities, represented “propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations” to minors. The new bill extends this ban to people 18 and older.
Any such “propaganda” will therefore be prohibited in advertising, the media, books, films, as well as in the theatre.
The bill also expands existing restrictions by prohibiting the sharing of gender reassignment information to minors.
Russian offenders face fines, while foreign nationals face deportation from Russia if they fail to comply with the new rules. Fines vary between 100,000 and 2 million rubles ($2,200 to CA$44,400).
The bill does not criminalize the sharing of such information, as Russian law states that the Criminal Code can only be changed by an independent bill. Some lawmakers have hinted that they favor such a move.
Russia explicitly outlawed same-sex marriages in 2020 by passing amendments to the country’s constitution which, among other things, state that “the institution of marriage is a union between a man and a woman”.
The Russian Embassy in Ottawa had also reacted recently by posting, on Twitter and Telegram, a message indicating that the West was interfering in the family values of Russia and stressing that a family can only be formed from a man, a woman and children. The embassy also linked images of a crossed-out rainbow flag and Russian Orthodox icons of Adam and Eve with its message.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mélanie Joly, had also asked her ministry to summon the Russian ambassador following these publications.
With information from The Canadian Press
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