Hundreds of violent counter-protesters took to the streets of Tbilisi against the Pride march scheduled for the evening.Īt least 15 journalists were attacked by mobs at different locations, including two RFE/RL reporters, while covering the Tbilisi Pride events. The anti-gay sentiment was seen yesterday in Voronezh, a city south of Moscow, where a handful of gay activists protesting against the Parliament bill were attacked by a much larger group of anti-gay activists who hit them with snowballs.LGBT campaigners in Georgia have canceled a planned Pride march after opponents attacked activists and journalists and the government and church spoke out against the event. An executive with a government-run television network said in a nationally televised talk show gays should be prohibited from donating blood, sperm and organs for transplants, and after death their hearts should be burned or buried. company PepsiCo for using a "gay" rainbow on cartons of its dairy products. 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. Russia's widespread hostility to homosexuality is shared by the political and religious elite. Levada polls conducted last year show that almost two-thirds 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. Other laws that the Kremlin says are intended to protect young Russians have been hastily adopted in recent months, including some that allow banning and blocking web content and print publications that are deemed "extremist" or unfit for young audiences.ĭenis Volkov, a sociologist with the Levada Center, an independent pollster, says the anti-gay bill fits the "general logic" of a government intent on limiting various rights.īut in this case, the move has been met mostly with either indifference or open enthusiasm by average Russians. 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. The lanky and longhaired Samburov is the founder of the Rainbow Association, which unites gay activists throughout Russia. Samburov describes the anti-gay 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 bill is part of an effort to promote traditional Russian values as opposed to Western liberalism, which the Kremlin and church see as corrupting Russian youths and by extension contributing to a wave of protest against President Vladimir Putin's rule.
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Petersburg and a number of other Russian cities already have similar laws on their books.
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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. MOSCOW (AP) - Kissing his boyfriend during a protest in front of Russia's Parliament in December 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.