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Russia

Russian Parliament To Consider National Anti-Gay Legislation

MOSCOW, RSF -- The Russian State Parliament- The Duma- will hear the first reading of a federal level bill that is designed after a series of regional laws banning so-called "propaganda of homosexualism."  

According to a spokesperson for the Putin government, Russian lawmakers have put the measure on the Duma's legislative calender for December 19, 2012. The Parliament will consider adopting a national ban on "gay propaganda" similar to the ones already existing in St. Petersburg and nine other Russian Oblasts, (regions).

Igor Kochetkov, Chairman of Russian LGBT Network reacted via press release Thursday;

"Today we would like to address to the deputies of State Duma with a call. Don't discredit yourselves and Russia by adoption of this absolutely senseless law  that is devoid of common sense and the right of law.  

One year of application of such laws in the regions have shown that, in practice, they are used to persecute dissidents, not to protect the children. Under the pretext of protecting the family the author of this bill is actually set to destroy it, identifying a family as "biological union of a man and a woman." In reality this "farm" approach to people shows how some deputies look to us, their constituents as no more than animals."

Related to the outcry over the Duma's consideration of this bill, Italian lawmakers of the city council of Venice, Italy, are considering terminating a bilateral cooperation agreement signed between St. Petersburg, RSF and Venice as cooperating sister cities in 2006 over the latter’s recently adopted law banning "propaganda of homosexuality" among minors.

Venice city council members Simone Venturini and Camilla Seibezzi have now initiated a proposal to end the agreement and say that they will request that a hearing will be held within the next few days on the issue.

The St. Petersburg law was challenged by Russian LGBT rights activist Nikolai Alekseev last spring who was cited and fined by a city court and has since appealed that decision to the European Court of Human Rights after a Russian High Court declined to hear the case.