Law against the "propaganda" of "non-traditional" sexual relations under discussion. The Orthodox Church sees the Lgbt reality as "an instrument of invasion of the collective West in a hybrid war against Russia". More proposals for restrictions and punishments for "Satan's messengers" will be forthcoming.
Moscow (AsiaNews) - Discussions are underway in the State Duma on the law initiative for a complete ban on any kind of information that could be interpreted as a form of propaganda of "non-traditional" sexual relations. The debate is being attended by deputies, senators, government officials, representatives of society and the church world in Russia.
No one spoke in favour of non-traditional values. Instead, all the speakers insisted on the danger of LGBT propaganda, associating it in particular with the circumstances of the war conflict in Ukraine, which President Putin further dramatised by declaring a 'national emergency situation': in practice the explicit condition of a state of war.
Russian politicians reiterate a concept proclaimed by Moscow Patriarch Kirill after the start of the invasion of Ukraine, namely that such propaganda represents 'the instrument of invasion of the collective West in a hybrid war against Russia'. From the Orthodox Church comes explicit approval of the current procedure as a 'victory in the war against the evil one'. The project had originally been presented back in June by the chairwoman of the Parliamentary Committee for Family Matters, Nina Ostanina of the Communist Party (Kprf), to stop the spread of unwelcome ideals on the Internet and in all media.
The proposal also includes the suspension of licences for cinema screenings that reproduce content related to homosexuality and non-traditional unions. Now the text has been supplemented by a new package of measures, drafted by the head of the Information Policy Committee Aleksandr Khinstein of United Russia, which envisages heavy fines for citizens guilty of LGBT propaganda: from 50 thousand to 400 thousand roubles (EUR 1,000-8,000); from 100 thousand to 800 thousand if they are state officials; and from 800 thousand to 5 million for legal persons, with interruption of activities for up to 90 days.
Duma Speaker Vjačeslav Volodin emphasised the particular topicality of the topic, basing his remarks on recent polls by the Vtsiom institute, according to which the number of citizens who have had to deal with LGBT propaganda in the last 10 years has in fact doubled: in 2012, 6% of respondents had denounced such situations, this year it was 12%. Khinstein confirmed that since the start of the special military operation (invasion), the ban on such propaganda 'has not only not lost its relevance, but has been given an even more obvious and decisive meaning', as 'it is clear that our opposition to the West largely takes on a meaning of a clash of civilisations, where Russia has remained the fortress of defence and custody of traditional values'.
According to the MPs, a vast 'LGBT revolution' is underway in the West, where 'gays, bisexuals and transgender people occupy the most important positions of power and the leading functions of states, while propaganda becomes an incessant advertisement, and becomes the norm even in children's fairy tales', Khinstein further explained. The new law aims to prohibit unwelcome expressions not only in the area of communication for children, but also for all citizens of any age and social status, and also prohibits propaganda of paedophilia and sex change.
Discussing how to distinguish propaganda from mere artistic expression, Volodin gave the example of Nabokov's 'Lolita', in which 'there is no propaganda of paedophilia, because no reader of this book wishes to repeat the hero's fate'. The representative of the Moscow Patriarchate, Protoierej Andrej Tkačev, recalled that 'sin is not a private matter', and sinners 'spread the stench of their degradation far beyond the confines of their bedrooms'. Further proposals for restrictions and punishments for 'Satan's messengers' will be forthcoming, leading eventually to the 'final victory'.