Two Russian lawmakers have proposed
legislation that would make it illegal to publicly come out LGBT.
According
to RT, the bill, drafted by Communist Party MPs Ivan Nikitchuk
and Nikolay Arefyev, would amend the Russian Administrative Code to
prohibit “public expression of non-traditional sexual relations.”
Violators would face fines between
4,000 and 5,000 rubles and up to 15 days in jail.
In comments to broadsheet daily
Izvestia, Nikitchuk called homosexuality “a deadly danger
for humanity.”
“In a biological sense, failure to
reproduce is the same as death and this makes homosexuality a deadly
danger for humanity,” he said.
“I think that the problem is acute
and urgent, because it concerns the social disease of our society and
the moral upbringing of the younger generation. Unfortunately, the
mechanism suggested in the 2013 law 'on the protection of children
against the information that harms their health and development' has
proven to be ineffective and this prompted us to develop new
measures,” Nikitchuk said, a reference to Russia's law prohibiting
“gay propaganda” to minors.
Human rights advocates criticized the
bill, with one, Lyudmila Alekseyeva, head of the Moscow Helsinki
Group, telling online magazine SLON that a law was needed to punish
people who came out as communists.