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Russia bans LGBTQ+ ‘propaganda,’ the ‘imposition of information’ about homosexuality and ‘sex reassignment.’ Here’s the law broken down.

On November 24, Russia’s State Duma passed the third and final reading of legislation that bans all “propaganda of non-traditional sexual relationships.” Six days later, the Parliament’s upper chamber also approved the bills, which President Putin signed into law on December 5. The new rules enter into force immediately. LGBTQ+ “propaganda” has been banned in Russia since June 2013, but only among minors. The authorities have now significantly expanded the list of restrictions: “propaganda” and “impositions” are now prohibited in the presence of children and adults alike. The law applies to everything, including films, books, advertising, television, and social media. Below, breaks down what’s new in the cornerstone legislation that guides Russia’s state homophobia and transphobia. For a more detailed analysis of these requirements (in Russian), click here.

The law does not thoroughly lay out what it considers to be “propaganda.” That assessment has been left to the courts, which in the vast majority of cases have an accusatory bias.

During the discussion of the law, Vadim Subbotin, deputy head of Roskomnadzor, did offer one definition:

The use of certain means of influence, popularization, or imposition of information in order to form certain positive distorted views of a destructive phenomenon. A kind of rigidly imposed position on certain values, as well as spiritual and moral issues.

However, the law doesn’t include that definition. Roskomnadzor will likely make its own determinations — for example, blocking certain websites, and these may serve as a guide.

In turn, United Russia deputy and Duma Committee on Information Policy chairman Alexander Khinstein chose to explain what “propaganda” is, using Oscar Wilde as an example:

If it is said about him that he became such a prominent writer only because of his orientation, it would be propaganda. But if it merely mentions this fact of his biography, it would not be considered propaganda.

Penalties can also be levied for “the imposition of information” that might arouse interest in “sex reassignment” and homosexual relationships. The deputies also did not explain what “the imposition of information” means (although it is mentioned in the definition used by the Roskomnadzor to explain what “propaganda” means; see above).

Also concerning is the ambiguity of the wording “non-traditional sexual preferences” — it’s not clear what the court would consider “non-traditional.”

“Lawmakers are opening a ‘Pandora’s box.’ An undefined rule leads to unpredictability of its application. Unpredictability of application leads to arbitrariness. And arbitrariness means the inevitable violation of rights,” said Ivan Brikulsky, lawyer at the Institute for Law and Public Policy.

Note. This is a wide table with several columns. If you are viewing the material from your phone, you can scroll left and right. Blank lines mean that the new laws do not establish prohibitions directly, but in practice they may be introduced.

WHAT IS BANNED AND FOR WHOM	“PROPAGANDA OF NON-TRADITIONAL ATTITUDES OR PREFERENCES”	DEMONSTRATING “NON-TRADITIONAL ATTITUDES OR PREFERENCES”	“PROMOTION OF GENDER REASSIGNMENT”	“THE IMPOSITION OF INFORMATION ABOUT NON-TRADITIONAL RELATIONSHIPS OR PREFERENCES” AND “SEX REASSIGNMENT”
Any content available to minors (e.g. games, books, plays, etc…)	Prohibited	Prohibited	Prohibited	Prohibited
Social Media	Prohibited Roskomnadzor has the right to block any content on its own		Prohibited	Prohibited
Online movie theaters (e.g. Kinopoisk, Amediateka, and Okko)	Prohibited You can’t post movies and shows that “promote” homosexual relationships or “preferences”		Prohibited	Prohibited
Normal movie theaters	Prohibited Films in which there is “propaganda” for homosexual relations and “sex reassignment” cannot be licensed. “Doubtful” films will be cut or have scenes with LGBT characters cut out – this is already happening		Prohibited	Prohibited
Theaters	Prohibited		Prohibited	Prohibited
Bookstores and publishers	Prohibited No products, including books, which include in LGBT “propaganda” may be sold		Prohibited	Prohibited
Advertising	Prohibited	Prohibited	Prohibited	Prohibited
Television and radio	Prohibited	Prohibited From 4:00 to 23:00	Prohibited	Prohibited
Media outlets	Prohibited		Prohibited	Prohibited
Public performances (e.g concerts and lectures)	Prohibited		Prohibited	Prohibited
News aggregators (e.g. Yandex News, News@mail.ru, Rambler News)	Prohibited		Prohibited	Prohibited

Deputies also banned ‘propaganda of pedophilia’

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“Propaganda of pedophilia” has been included in the same law as “non-traditional sexual relations.” It’s very much an exercise in creating an association between homosexuality and pedophilia.

The explanatory note in the bill lists homosexual and transgender “propaganda” separated by commas with “justification of pedophilia.”According to the deputies, all are phenomena that “pose a particular danger to children and adolescents.” During the Duma hearings, the statements like, “children in Britain are not allowed to insult pedophiles” were on a par with complaints about LGBT heroes in films and books.

That said, from the perspective of modern science, “propaganda of pedophilia” is essentially meaningless. A pedophilic disorder most likely develops due to a combination of different factors, and “propaganda” is not among them. In addition, one must distinguish between pedophilia and sexualized child abuse, which is not carried out exclusively by people with a pedophilic disorder.

The claim that pedophilia is particularly common among LGBT people is a stereotype that has been around for a long time, including abroad. For example, one of the Internet fakes that has gone viral says that the LGBT community wants to add the letter P to the acronym to denote the inclusion of “pedosexuals.”

A spokesperson for GLAAD, an LGBTQ advocacy organization, told Reuters that "this is a longstanding homophobic and transphobic tactic of incorrectly comparing LGBTQ people to pedophiles."

Explainer by Petr Sapozhnikov

Translation by Ned Garvey