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InterNations
Russia

Crackdown On Gay 'Propaganda' In Russia

A law introduced in the Russian Parliament this week aims to punish "homosexual propaganda" aimed at children. Critics are worried this is just another way to outlaw homosexuality.

Gay Pride in Moscow. The sign reads
Gay Pride in Moscow. The sign reads

MOSCOW- Russian lawmakers introduced a bill this week that would punish "homosexual propaganda" directed at minors. This comes on the heels of the recent adoption of similar legislation in St. Petersburg, the second-largest city in the country, that makes " homosexual and pedophile propaganda" punishable by fine, in amounts ranging from approximately $170 for individuals to $17,000 for corporations.

The law introduced on Thursday in the Russian Parliament, the Duma, will essentially make the St. Petersburg law national.

A memo explaining the proposed law proclaimed, "Homosexual propaganda has spread widely in modern Russia. This kind of propaganda is distributed both through the mass media, as well as through events that promote the homosexual lifestyle as a normal behavior."

The authors of the legislation also declared: "This is especially dangerous for children and youth, who are not yet capable of thinking critically about the avalanche of information they see on a daily basis." According to its authors, the goal of the law project is to protect the younger generation from the effects of "homosexual propaganda."

Defining what constitutes "propaganda"

Thebill's sponsors insist that the proposed legislation has nothing to do with individual sexual orientation, only with the dissemination of "propaganda."

The problem, according to Tatyana Glushkova, a lawyer for a civil rights organization, is that the laws, both in St. Petersburg and the one proposed in the Duma, do not define either "propaganda" or "propaganda directed towards minors."

"Practically any action that is connected to homosexuality in any way could be construed as propaganda," Glushkova says. "Basically, saying anything positive or even neutral about homosexuality in front of children would be forbidden."

Homosexuality was illegal in the Soviet Union until 1993, but continues to be widely stigmatized in Russian society.

*Newsbites are digest items, not direct translations.

Read the full article in Kommersant in Russian.

Photo - Dedd

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Geopolitics

What If Antonio Guterres Screamed In The Forest And Nobody Heard?

The UN Secretary-General is raising the tone in the war in Gaza, but it comes at a time when international institutions are extremely weak. Looking back at history, that's a dangerous thing.

Photo of United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres boarding a plane at Egypt's El Arish International Airport, as part of his late October visit to the Middle East.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres at Egypt's El Arish International Airport, as part of his late October visit to the Middle East.

Pierre Haski

-Analysis-

PARIS — There was a time when all eyes turned to the UN Security Council as soon as a conflict broke out somewhere in the world. The United Nations was the theatrical enclosure where the great powers of this world would put themselves on stage: Nikita Khrushchev, the Soviet leader banging his shoe on the podium, or Colin Powell, the American diplomat waving his chemical vial before invading Iraq.

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Today, we might almost forget the very existence of the Security Council, even with two major wars are underway, in Ukraine and Gaza. The United Nations is marginalized, which is what risks happening when the great powers directly or indirectly confront each other.

It is even surprising when the UN Secretary-General raises his voice to warn about the crisis in the Middle East which he's declared: “threatens the maintenance of international peace and security”; and raises the risk of seeing in Gaza a “total collapse of law and order soon.”

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