ANTI-GAY PROPAGANDA IN RUSSIA: ANALYSIS OF ITS EVOLUTION AND AFTERMATH

Abstract

On December 5, 2022, Russian president Vladimir Putin signed a bill outlawing the LGBT lifestyle in Russia. Its recent developments took place in November when duma approved the third and final reading of the bill. It further got approval from the federation council.

The federal law is titled: for the purpose of protecting children from information advocating a denial of traditional family values. The Russian government argues that children should be protected from exposure to LGBT ideas since it is against the traditional values put forward by the Russian state with heavy backing from the Russian orthodox church. 

The law prohibits any form of information from spreading non-heterosexual ideas through books, cinema, or media. It also prohibits the public promotion of non-traditional family relations. The final legislation, after amendments applying to all ages, would henceforth fine violators from 100,000 to 2 million roubles.

The developments that took place recently attracted international reactions mostly calling for the withdrawal of the law, since it had serious inconsistency with several basic and fundamental declarations of human rights.

Russia being a democratic nation bringing in an arbitrary law that marginalises a particular set of people is unjustifiable. The influence of bringing about such a law will have its serious consequences in other parts of the world too. 

This research paper aims to analyse the rise, causes, and consequences of homophobia in Russia and the effect of the latest legislation banning non-traditional sexual relations. It also attempts to give an insight into the lives of the LGBT community prior to the legislation and following the implementation of the same.