Russian Duma Moves to Enact Anti-Gay Law Nationwide.

Russian Duma Moves to Enact Anti-Gay Law Nationwide.(MT).Kissing his boyfriend during a protest in front of the State Duma earned Pavel Samburov 30 hours of detention and the equivalent of a $16 fine on a charge of "hooliganism."
But if a bill that comes up for a first vote later this month becomes law, such a public kiss could be defined as illegal "homosexual propaganda" and bring a fine of up to $16,000.
The legislation, being pushed by the Kremlin and the Russian Orthodox Church, would make it illegal nationwide to provide minors with information that is defined as "propaganda of sodomy, lesbianism, bisexuality and transgenderism."
It includes a ban on holding public events that promote gay rights. St. Petersburg and a number of other cities already have similar laws on their books.
Samburov describes the bill as part of a Kremlin crackdown on minorities of any kind — political and religious as well as sexual — designed to divert public attention from growing discontent with Putin's rule. The lanky and long-haired Samburov is the founder of the Rainbow Association, which unites gay activists throughout Russia. The gay-rights group has joined anti-Putin marches in Moscow over the past year, its rainbow flag waving along with those of other opposition groups.
Denis Volkov, a sociologist for the Levada Center, an independent pollster, said the anti-homosexuality bill fits the "general logic" of a government intent on limiting various rights.
But in this case, the move has been met mostly with either indifference or open enthusiasm by average Russians. Levada polls conducted last year show that almost 67 percent of Russians find homosexuality "morally unacceptable and worth condemning." About half are against gay rallies and same-sex marriage. Almost a third think homosexuality is the result of "a sickness or a psychological trauma," the Levada surveys show.
Russia's widespread hostility to homosexuality is shared by the political and religious elite. Lawmakers have accused gays of decreasing Russia's already low birth rates and said they should be barred from government jobs, undergo forced medical treatment or be exiled. Orthodox activists criticized PepsiCo for using a "gay" rainbow on cartons of its dairy products.
The federal bill's expected adoption comes 20 years after a Stalinist-era law punishing homosexuality with up to five years in prison was removed from the Criminal Code as part of the democratic reforms that followed the Soviet Union's collapse.
Gays have been whipsawed by official pressure and persistent homophobia. There are no reliable estimates of how many gays and lesbians live in Russia, and only a few big cities such as Moscow and St. Petersburg have gay nightclubs and gyms.
In other parts of Russia, gays feel even less secure. Bagaudin Abduljalilov moved to Moscow from Dagestan, a predominantly Muslim region, where he says some gays have been beaten and had their hands cut off, sometimes by their own relatives, for bringing shame on their families.
"You don't have any human rights down there," he said. "Anything can be done to you with impunity."
Shortly before moving to Moscow, Abduljalilov left Islam to become a Christian, but he was expelled from a seminary after telling the dean he is gay. He also has had trouble finding a job as a television journalist because of discrimination against people from Dagestan. Read the full story here.