Foreigners are also subject to 15 days of prison and deportation from Russia. More severe administrative fines are allowed for propaganda transmitted via the Internet or other media networks or by a foreign citizen. dollars) and up to 800,000 to 1 million rubles for NGOs, corporations or other legal entities (about $24,000 - $30,000 U.S. The new law sets administrative fines for LGBT propaganda at 4,000 to 5,000 rubles for individuals (about $120 - $150 U.S. ) In the federal law, propaganda is defined as: “distribution of information that is aimed at the formation among minors of nontraditional sexual attitudes, attractiveness of non- traditional sexual relations, misperceptions of the social equivalence of traditional and non-traditional sexual relations, or enforcing information about non-traditional sexual relations that evokes interest to such relations. (The official version in Russian is published here. The federal anti-LGBT propaganda law, as signed by President Putin on June 29, entered into force in Russia on June 30 of this year. The language of this new law focuses on “non-traditional” sexual relationships, to contrast with “traditional values” or “traditional family” language that Russia is promoting at the UN to oppose positive statements supporting the human rights of LGBT people. And while the regional laws are not uniform, like the new federal law, they all tend to advance vague definitions of propaganda that lend themselves to the targeting and ongoing persecution of the country’s LGBT community.
The city of Sochi, which is the site of the upcoming Winter Olympics, has one of those regional laws in place. The new federal law is closely related to several regional laws that were already on the books, all of which seek to penalize “propaganda” of homosexuality, generally with the intent of “protecting” minors. In June 2013, the Russian duma in Moscow passed a new law banning the “propaganda of non-traditional sexual relationships” to minors. ILGA-Europe, the European section of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association, rates Russia as the least protective country in Europe for LGBT citizens, ranking it 49th out of the 49 European countries rated in its annual survey. Despite these liberalization trends during the immediate post-Soviet period, in recent years, Russian authorities have routinely denied permits for Pride parades, intimidated and arrested LGBT activists and condoned anti-LGBT statements by government officials. Transgender Russians have also been allowed to change their legal gender on identity documents since 1997, although there are many obstacles to the process and invasive surgical requirements remain in place. Most notably, homosexual relationships were decriminalized in 1993. LGBT People Are Being Targeted by Anti-LGBT Propaganda and Foreign Agents Lawsįollowing the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, Russia liberalized some of its anti-LGBT laws. This fact sheet summarizes the developments in Russia and the guidance that we have received to date from our colleagues in Russia. And if Russia wants to uphold the Olympic spirit, then every judgment should be made on the track, or in the swimming pool, or on the balance beam, and people’s sexual orientation shouldn’t have anything to do with it.” – President Obama
They’re athletes, they’re there to compete. “I think Putin and Russia have a big stake in making sure the Olympics work, and I think they understand that for most of the countries that participate in the Olympics, we wouldn’t tolerate gays and lesbians being treated differently. President Obama addressed the issue on the Tonight Show, saying: In recent months, public attention to the ongoing crackdown on LGBT rights in the Russian Federation and its potential impact on the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia in February 2014 has increased significantly.