Ahead of a vote next week on the first reading of legislation that would ban public displays of homosexual affection, the Duma's legal experts are criticizing the proposal.

Lawmakers with backgrounds in law have issued a joint statement faulting the bill for failing to define concepts in the text, like “public demonstrations of distorted sexual preferences in public places.” The Duma deputies say, "thus, the bill does not meet the criteria of certainty, clarity, and unambiguous legal norms that the Constitutional Court has repeatedly said is required.” The current draft of the bill also fails to stipulate what state agencies are responsible for implementing or even drawing up the bylaws to enforce the proposed policy.

The Duma is scheduled to vote on the first reading of the law on Tuesday, January 19. More than 17,500 people have signed a petition at Change.org calling for a repeal of the bill, hate speech charges against its authors, and a legal review the legislation, in order to establish a formal precedent.

For our interview with Ivan Nikitchuk, one of the authors of the legislation, see: *‘Human rights aren’t everything!’ Meduza speaks to the author of draft legislation that would ban being gay in public*

Duma deputies speak out against draft bill that would ban public displays of affection among gays