Propaganda of non-traditional relationships article. The "anti-gay law" was adopted by the State Duma in the second and third readings
The Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs has proposed introducing criminal liability for “propaganda of pedophilia and homosexuality” among minors. According to the TASS news agency, on October 19, at a meeting of the State Duma, Sergei Alabin, head of the department for combating pedophilia of the department for combating crimes against the person of the State Criminal Investigation Department, said: “The question was raised about the propaganda of pedophilia, homosexuality, non-traditional relationships, and so on. Personally, I I believe that administrative liability is ineffective. If this is elevated to the rank of criminal liability, then we will preserve our generation, which should not grow up focused on pedophilia and non-traditional relationships.”
And although Russian medicine officially accepts the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10), in which homosexuality is not a disease, this does not prevent representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs from considering homosexuality a deviation - on a par with pedophilia.
Law against gay propaganda
The criminal offense for sodomy was abolished in Russia in 1993. And in 2013, the State Duma adopted a law establishing administrative liability for gay propaganda among children in the form of a fine. It can range from 50 thousand to 1 million rubles.
Recent cases include that of Evdokia Romanova, a Samara activist. Two years ago, the girl reposted links from The Guardian and BuzzFeed publications on LGBT topics on the social networks Facebook and Vkontakte. On July 26, 2017, the local police officer called her and summoned her to the police department to testify in the case of a man whom the girl had never heard of in her life. Despite the suspicious reason for the call, the girl came to the department, where she was charged with “gay propaganda.” The girl admitted to DW that law enforcement officers even threatened her husband, an Austrian citizen, with deportation from Russia. Romanova involved the media and the human rights organization Amnesty International in the case, but a fine for “gay propaganda” could not be avoided. On October 19, a Samara court fined Romanova 50 thousand rubles for reposting articles.
What is "homosexual propaganda"
Lawyer of the human rights organization "Agora" Damir Gainutdinov believes that there are no criteria for assessing propaganda in Russian law, so government agencies have to "get out of it." From the formulation of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation it follows that “propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations” is the dissemination of information that can harm health, moral development and create distorted ideas about the social equivalence of traditional and non-traditional marriage relationships among minors.
“Roughly speaking, one cannot talk about the normality of LGBT people, at least in the presence of minors,” Gainutdinov interprets the law.
In support of this bill, Roskomnadzor conducted its own research, which it published under the title “Concept of Information Security of Children.” It provides an example that published statistics on adoption by homosexual and heterosexual couples “shapes children and adolescents with the idea that a homosexual couple can cope with parental responsibilities just as well as a heterosexual one.” According to Roskomnadzor, such information can affect a teenager’s self-identity and amounts to propaganda.
Tanya Lokshina, program director of the Moscow Bureau of Human Rights Watch, believes that in Russia there are many legislative acts with “vague” wording. But the law “on gay propaganda” is not vague. "Almost any public positive coverage of LGBT people and relationships can be regarded as propaganda. Theoretically, this law can be applied to many people. But it is applied selectively," Lokshina told DW.
Violation of the rights of citizens of the Russian Federation
In June 2017, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) found the 2013 Russian law to be discriminatory and also found that it violated articles of the European Convention on Human Rights, namely Article 10 (Freedom of Speech) and Article 4 ( "Prohibition of discrimination").
The prerequisite for such a decision was the appeal to the ECHR by three Russians - activists of the LGBT movement: Nikolai Baev, Alexey Kiselev and Nikolai Alekseev. All three were brought to justice for promoting “non-traditional” relations in Russia. The ECHR ruled to pay them compensation in the amount of 50 thousand euros. The Russian Ministry of Justice expressed its disagreement with the ECHR decision and promised to appeal it. If the ECHR decision is not implemented, Russia faces fines and a damaged reputation.
Lokshina believes that in this case the Russian Federation has only one option - to abandon the law on “propaganda of non-traditional relationships.” However, the activist does not rule out that Russia will only pay compensation to the victims and leave the law in place.
The goal is self-censorship
There are not many precedents for applying the law. Damir Gainutdinov told DW that during the entire existence of the article, 14 people were brought to justice in the Russian Federation. The lawyer explained that there is discrimination against LGBT people in Russia, but the authorities are not yet ready to take responsibility for it.
Context
“Law enforcement officers are more focused on extremism, and massive legal persecution of LGBT people is hardly necessary from an image point of view,” says Gainutdinov. According to human rights activist Tanya Lokshina, the relatively small number of precedents is explained by selective law enforcement in Russia. Its goal is to create the effect of “self-censorship.” People understand that if it happens to someone, it can happen to them.
Lokshina said that while such laws are being discussed and adopted, the number of attacks on LGBT activists in Russia is growing. Anyone who dares to support LGBT ideology or events can simply be beaten. “When the state passes a law that actually states that people who are members of the LGBT community are second-class citizens and harmful to society, this encourages the growth of homophobic sentiments. On the other hand, it gives a feeling of impunity to aggressive and radical homophobes. Therefore, being LGBT It’s not safe to be an activist today,” says Lokshina.
See also:
Watch video 03:42
Love is illegal: how to fight homophobia in Russia? (10/14/2017)
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MOSCOW – Russian President Vladimir Putin signed two high-profile laws on Sunday, June 30 – banning gay propaganda among children and protecting the feelings of believers.
“Propaganda of non-traditional sexual attitudes”
The law “On the Protection of Children from Information Harmful to Their Health and Development,” signed by the president, formally amends the Code of Administrative Offenses.
The law defines propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations as “the dissemination of information aimed at developing in minors non-traditional sexual attitudes, the attractiveness of non-traditional sexual relations, a distorted idea of the social equivalence of traditional and non-traditional sexual relations, or the imposition of information about non-traditional sexual relations that arouses interest in such relationships.”
For the promotion of non-traditional sexual relations among minors, the Russian authorities will punish fines of up to 5 thousand rubles for citizens, officials will be punished with fines of up to 50 thousand rubles, and legal entities will be punished with a fine of up to 1 million rubles or suspension of activities for up to 90 days.
Such acts committed through the media and the Internet will be punishable by fines for citizens of up to 100 thousand rubles, for officials up to 200 thousand rubles and up to 1 million rubles for legal entities or suspension of activities for up to 90 days.
Foreign citizens for promoting non-traditional sexual relationships will be punished with a fine, as well as administrative arrest for up to 15 days, followed by deportation from Russia. If a foreigner uses the media or the Internet to promote homosexuality, the law provides for a fine of up to 100 thousand rubles with arrest and deportation.
Russian LGBT activist Nikolai Alekseev believes that by signing a law that is actually directly directed against sexual minorities in Russia, Putin made a big mistake.
“In Russia there is a very homophobic population and they support such measures. But this law is Putin’s historical mistake. Throughout the civilized world, the rights of sexual minorities are recognized, and the LGBT community has equal rights, but Russia is going in the completely opposite direction,” Alekseev told the Voice of America Russian Service.
According to the human rights activist, the new anti-LGBT law fits into Putin’s strategy of populist conservatism to attract the attention of the uneducated provincial electorate.
“The wave of conservatism is aimed at intensifying the fight against the West and Western values. Currently, Russian state ideology is built not only on confrontation with the West, but also on Orthodoxy and religion. The laws, including another signed law on protecting the feelings of believers, fit into what religious organizations dictate,” Alekseev said.
The LGBT activist believes that the new law will not be applied often, much less on a large scale.
“But the law will be used to prohibit the registration of LGBT organizations, to prohibit the jurisprudence of public events... That is, to remove a certain group of people from public space,” Alekseev summed up.
Responsibility for “insulting the feelings of believers”
The second bill, signed by Putin on Sunday, introduces criminal penalties for insulting the feelings of believers.
In particular, persons holding public events “for the purpose of insulting the religious feelings of believers” will be punished with a fine of up to 300 thousand rubles, or compulsory labor for up to 240 hours, or forced labor for up to one year, or imprisonment for the same period.
A fine of up to 500 thousand rubles or compulsory work for up to 480 hours, or forced labor for up to three years or imprisonment for the same period awaits those who commit a public event that offends the feelings of believers in places “specially designed for religious services.” , religious rites and ceremonies."
The law provides for an even more severe punishment if the act was committed with the use of official position, or with the use or threat of violence - up to 1 year of imprisonment with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions and engage in certain activities for up to two years.
You can view the full list of sanctions introduced by the law on the Russian legal information portal.
Human rights activist, director of the SOVA information and analytical center Alexander Verkhovsky believes that the law on the protection of religious feelings can give rise to a lot of repression.
“There are many religious figures in Russia who, speaking on behalf of any religious group or against a specific religious movement, can hurt or offend each other. In the course of many discussions, these grievances are inevitable,” the expert told the Voice of America Russian Service.
According to Verkhovsky, the trouble is that many of these religious figures strive to write complaints to the prosecutor's office and other supervisory authorities.
“As a rule, the prosecutor’s office does not satisfy these complaints. Now, when a new crime appears, prosecutors, in my opinion, will more often satisfy the complaints of certain figures. As a result, we will receive many criminal cases against various people,” Verkhovsky noted.
“In any case, all these matters are absolutely pointless. I don’t see any benefit in this kind of law enforcement activity. However, this is inevitable, because now we have the law and criminal sanctions,” the expert concluded.
New conservatism
Political scientist, professor at the Higher School of Economics Mikhail Polyakov says that the wave of new Russian conservatism, manifested in the adoption of laws against sexual minorities and the protection of the religious feelings of believers, is the government’s response to specific events.
“This is a defensive reaction... The law on the protection of the feelings of believers has been significantly revised. Unlike what we had in the first version of the bill, the sanctions are significantly reduced and it is clearly stated that the feelings of atheists are also protected. Objects and symbols of value to various religious groups will also be protected from insult. I would take this law beyond the discussion of whether it is conservative or not,” the political scientist believes.
According to Polyakov, the new law responds to cases such as acts of vandalism against the eternal flame and performances by the punk group Pussy Riot at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior.
The political scientist still regards the law banning the promotion of non-traditional sexual relationships among minors as a conservative moral position.
“I don’t see anything surprising here. It seems to me that in all democratic states where laws are passed on behalf of the majority, this issue remains debatable. Let's say that the discussion about the right of citizens to same-sex marriage in France resulted in violent public clashes. I think that everything happens within the framework of democratic procedures,” Polyakov concluded.
The Constitutional Court came out with clarification regarding the scandalous law banning the dissemination of information promoting non-traditional sexual relationships among minors (the common name is “the law banning the promotion of homosexuality”). The reason for clarification was the appeal of LGBT activists Nikolai Alekseev, Yaroslav Yevtushenko and Dmitry Isakov to the Constitutional Court: in accordance with this law, they were found guilty of an offense for holding public events. The law introduced into the Code of Administrative Offenses - « Promotion of non-traditional sexual relations among minors", implying a fine of four to five thousand rubles. Alekseev and Yevtushenko became the first in the country to be convicted under this law - for single pickets near the children’s library building in Arkhangelsk with a poster “There is no gay propaganda. You don't become gay, you are born gay!"(The Arkhangelsk region was one of the first regions where this law was adopted even before consideration in the Duma). Isakov, who held a single picket in Kazan, received his fine due to the fact that a teenager from Arkhangelsk Erik Fedoseev read about this picket in online and wrote a statement to the police. All three activists filed complaints with the European Court of Human Rights.
The Constitutional Court considered the law and the article introduced into the Code of Administrative Offenses to not contradict the Constitution. But in addition, the judge of the Constitutional Court Nikolai Bondar, commenting on the court’s position, stated that the article “does not preventimpartial public discussion of the legal status of sexual minorities, including through holding public events in accordance with the procedure established by law. However, the relevant activities should not involve minors, and the information disseminated should not be targeted at them».
Nikolai Alekseev, one of the most active figures in the Moscow LGBT movement, has already managed name This clarification of the Constitutional Court is a serious breakthrough in the fight for LGBT rights. Natalya Tsymbalova, coordinator of the Alliance of Heterosexuals for LGBT Equality, agrees with him: “The ruling of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation seems to me to be a very important milestone in the fight for the right to freedom of assembly of the LGBT community", she stated, but added that "Ideally, the court should have declared the notorious law on “gay propaganda” unconstitutional", but agreed that "No one, of course, expected such a demarche from him in the current political situation" However, she said, what is important is that “the court prohibited broad interpretation of the law, which is often done in our country by various political schemers and homophobes. Now it is directly stated that the law cannot be the basis for banning public rallies, discussions and other events in defense of LGBT rights».
Nevertheless, Tsymbalova, who has extensive experience in holding actions in defense of LGBT people and negotiating with the St. Petersburg administration, noted that “practice St. Petersburg such is that our rights to freedom of assembly are often violated by the authorities not at all on the basis of the law on “gay propaganda”. In St. Petersburg, this law was rarely applied; here, much more often, officials come up with various other loopholes to refuse approval of shares. For example, in February 2013, with the support of the Democratic St. Petersburg coalition, we tried to organize a rally against the law on “gay propaganda,” which was then still a bill and was being considered in the next reading by the State Duma. The authorities refused to approve this rally for us in 20 (twenty!) different places, coming up with a variety of excuses (such as repair work, the proximity of court buildings, the fact that we would allegedly disturb passers-by, and similar fictions). Obviously, the ban on the rally was a political decision, but the law on propaganda did not figure in any way in the refusals».
Another St. Petersburg activist, gender researcher Valery Sozaev, in a conversation with OVD-Info, also noted that, despite what the Constitutional Court says, “there is real local practice" He stated that in addition to banning protests, some government officials resort to outright provocation to disrupt an LGBT event: for example, deputy of the St. Petersburg Legislative Assembly Vitaly Milonov, known for his fierce fight against LGBT people, and his assistant Anatoly Artyukh “They constantly bring minors to our events for the purpose of provocation. Milonov comes with his own children to the actions of LGBT activists, thus provoking law enforcement officers and the police to stop these actions" Sozaev suspects that law enforcement practice will change little with the advent of the Constitutional Court’s clarification: “There were decisions of the Constitutional Court concerning regional laws - Arkhangelsk, St. Petersburg, Kostroma. LGBT activists take advantage of these regulations, but there is no point in doing so either.».
Serious concern
Almost simultaneously with the appearance of the clarification of the Constitutional Court, LGBT actions in Russian cities were given attention by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, which condemned Russia for failure to comply with ECHR verdicts. Committee members “expressed serious concern that most of the notifications filed in Moscow St. Petersburg, Kostroma and Arkhangelsk from July 1, 2013 to May 1, 2014, to hold public events... were met with a refusal based on the federal law prohibiting “propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations” among minors, despite assurances from the Russian authorities at the 1179th meeting (September 2013 year) (on human rights) that this federal law does not imply interference in the conduct of such events.” In this regard, the Committee called on the Russian authorities to provide “updated information, including statistical data, on current practices relating to the organization of public events... from 1 May 2014 to 1 February 2015.” The Committee “noted with great regret that the exercise of the fundamental right of assembly is insufficiently recognized and protected by the Russian authorities” and demanded that the necessary measures, “including educational ones,” be taken to rectify the situation.
Tsymbalova noted that “The Council of Europe cares much more about respecting the rights of Russian citizens than those government structures in Russia that are actually called upon to protect these rights. While Russia has not yet withdrawn from the Council of Europe (which is very likely in the current situation), the Council of Europe and its judicial system represented by the ECHR remains essentially the only authority to which we can appeal in the hope of finding protection from the arbitrariness of the authorities" According to Sozaev, “The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe always expresses serious concern - this, unfortunately, is the only opportunity on their part to do anything. And it’s clear why - lawyers in the Council of Europe do not understand what propaganda of homosexuality is, how you can encourage someone to become a homosexual person».
Law Enforcement
Article 6.21 of the Code of Administrative Offenses is still used quite rarely in the wake of past actions. In Moscow, for the first time, charges under this article were presented last year to LGBT activist Alexei Davydov,detained during a picket near the building of the Russian State Children's Library with a poster “It's normal to be gay,” and five other people detained with him (this was the only case of charges under this article noted by OVD-Info in Moscow for the year).
In this context, it was unprecedented solution Magistrate Judge of Court District No. 423 of Tverskoy District of Moscowon the payment of compensation to LGBT activist Irina Fedotova (Fet), sentenced to a fine for a single picket against the Ryazan region law on “homosexual propaganda,” adopted back in 2006.
Events in defense of LGBT rights often become a reason for detention even without the application of the relevant article: according to OVD-Info, in 2013 in Moscow, the relative number of events on this topic at which arrests occur is 7.1% (in 2012 - 0.9%), the number of arrests at them is 11.4% (in 2012 - 1.2%). The average number of arrests per event in support of LGBT people in 2013 was 13.9. In St. Petersburg, over the same period, the share of people detained at LGBT events out of the total number of people detained at mass events was 12.1%; the number of LGBT events with arrests was 7.1% of the total. Average number of arrests per LGBT event in St. Petersburg is 18.7.
Much more often, this article is used by regional authorities to refuse approval of events. As recently as October 1, Moscow authorities banned holding an LGBT march for one hundred people, because “information contained in the text of the notification about the holding of a public eventsuggests that the purposes of the planned march violate the prohibitions provided for by federal lawsArticle 6.21 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation» ; “holding a public event by the specified group of citizens in places open to the public will cause moral harm to children and adolescents who become their unwitting witnesses, offend religious and moral feelings, humiliate the human dignity of other citizens, violate their rights and freedoms, which will cause a negative reaction from society and may provoke illegal actions on the part of persons who do not share the views of their participants”; and in addition, holding a procession “will interfere with the movement of pedestrians and violate the rights of citizens not participating in it».
In Moscow, bans on such events in general were actually a response to the campaign to protect freedom of assembly, which LGBT activists announced after the adoption of the law. Activists submitted notifications about holding events with the aim of “expressing the opinion of the LGBT community in defense of the heart of the journalist of the Russia-1 TV channel Dmitry Kiselev from burning and burying in the ground”, “dissemination of objective scientific data in society about homosexual relationships in the animal world”, “ speeches by the LGBT community in support of raising pensions for citizens of the Russian Federation”, “speeches against the exploitation of homosexual reindeer by Santa Claus in Western countries”, “speeches against discrimination against blue trees on New Year’s Eve”, “speeches by gays and lesbians against global warming in the Russian Federation “and even “expressions of support and calls to follow the statements of Russian President V.V. Putin on non-discrimination of athletes and spectators of the Olympic Games in Sochi on the basis of nationality, race and sexual orientation, made on October 28, 2013.” A march of bearded women and men named after Conchita Wurst was planned. All these notifications were rejected, activists appealed them in the courts and, after recognizing the bans as legal, sent complaints to the ECHR (some events, the bans on which were recognized as legal by the Moscow City Court, are listed on the GayRussia website). However, not all the stated topics of the events sound as absurd as those listed above - for example, on September 27, activists of the Moscow Gay Pride appealed to the ECHR the ban on holding a rally in support of legislative tightening of punishment for hate crimes against gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people . Activists in Kostroma and Arkhangelsk act in a similar way. LGBT activists paid particular attention to the Olympics as the main international event in Russia after the law was passed. The gay pride parade in Sochi was banned on the same grounds. After March 2014, the law came into effect in Crimea, and gay pride parades were banned in Simferopol and Sevastopol.
An interesting story happened with the coordination of LGBT actions in Kostroma in June. The gay march on June 1 was immediately deniedin connection with the celebrations of Children's Day in the city.The procession planned for June 2 was unexpected agreed (though not in the place where the organizers wanted), but later approval was withdrawn due to accident sewerage. After lengthy legal proceedings, Nikolai Alekseev managed to achieve confessions both refusals are illegal.
The Propaganda Law has also been used to suppress events such as this happened in St. Petersburg on June 29, 2013, on the territory of Hyde Park on the Champ de Mars, where the LGBT Pride was supposed to take place: the chairman of the organizing committee was informed that, based on some complaints from citizens who saw “propaganda of homosexuality” in the participants’ posters, a decision was handed over to the police to stop the protest, after which the police began to detain people. A total of 54 people were detained. A similar event in 2014 was peaceful, but one activist was detained for a poster in which representatives of the local legality committee saw propaganda of non-traditional sexual orientation.
Some LGBT activists, focusing on the existing legislative and law enforcement practice, prefer when holding events to generally move away from symbols and even words directly related to LGBT topics. As told by OVD-Infohead of Murmansk LGBT organizations“Center “Maximum” Sergei Alekseenko, recently all their public events “were organized in such a way that there were not even words with the root “homo” or “LGBT”. We are trying to avoid these words so that we are not accused of violating this law." “We have not had a single refusal, but we do not announce actions specifically as LGBT; we often submit notifications for actions against xenophobia in society in general, and not just against homophobia,” says Alekseenko. “We do not come out with rainbow flags.” , we don’t come out with any harsh slogans, as they do in St. Petersburg and Moscow, especially ultra-activists. We are moderate. We are not trying to make a provocation, we want people to see and think again.” According to him, usually the authorities do not refuse them to hold an event. A flash mob on May 17 in one of the Hyde parks in Murmansk was thwarted, but, as Alekseenko believes, “it was the quirk of the head of the district administration, on whose territory Hyde Park is located, who said that Hyde parks are in America, and here is a playground for normal people.” people - get out, they say.” Despite the fact that events in Hyde Parks do not require notification, LGBT activists in Murmansk still submit notifications, since in such cases the administration is obliged to ensure safety. “If we don’t submit a notification, then we must ensure security ourselves,” explains Alekseenko. - But who knows - one person could come with a rotten egg, or maybe a crowd. I would not want any injuries on either side. We are trying to protect ourselves and the people who come to our events.”
Not just stocks
The law banning propaganda of “non-traditional sexual relations” among minors has been repeatedly used to persecute specific people without any connection with public street events. In the Khabarovsk Territory there was a fine of 50 thousand rubles sentenced editor-in-chief of the local newspaper “Young Far East” Alexander Suturin for publishing an interview with geography teacher Alexander Ermoshkin, who was fired from his job for LGBT activism. Suturin was accused of violating Part 2 of Article 6.21 - on propaganda through the media, which already entails a much larger fine than participation in the event. In May of this year it was charged Murmansk activist Violetta Grudina due to the fact that minors were discovered in the Maximum Center group on the VKontakte social network, of which she is one of the administrators.
In addition, journalist from Nizhny Tagil Elena Klimova,the author of the project “Children-404” about homosexual teenagers, was accused of creating “pages promoting non-traditional sexual relations" A statement of violation was filed by St. Petersburg deputy Vitaly Milonov. However, the Dzerzhinsky District Court of Nizhny Tagil stopped proceedings in connection with the fact that the administrative protocol against Klimova was drawn up with violations.
In addition to the fact that LGBT activists are subject to persecution both in court and out of court, authorities often do not cooperate with them in investigating crimes. So, in Voronezh the court didn't satisfy a statement regarding police inaction filed by activists Pavel Lebedev and Andrei Nasonov, who were injured as a result of an attack on an LGBT picket. And Nikolai Alekseev, who was attacked in Kostroma, was refused to initiate a criminal case.
The ECHR upheld the complaint of Russian gay activists and recognized that the Russian law banning gay propaganda among minors is discriminatory and violates the right to freedom of expression
Judges of the European Court of Human Rights (Photo: Vincent Kessler/Reuters)
Having considered the complaint of LGBT activists Nikolai Baev, Alexey Kiselev and Nikolai Alekseev, the European Court of Human Rights decided that the Russian law banning the promotion of non-traditional sexual relations among minors violates the right to freedom of expression and contains discrimination. All three who applied to the ECHR from 2009 to 2012 were brought to justice in Russia for promoting non-traditional relationships.
The court found that the Russian law violates Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights. It states that “everyone has the right to freedom of expression and this right includes freedom to hold opinions and freedom to receive and impart information and ideas without interference from any public authority and regardless of frontiers.”
The decision also states that in connection with the violation of Article 10, there is also a violation of Article 14 of the convention. The article is called “On the Prohibition of Discrimination.” “The enjoyment of the rights and freedoms recognized in this Convention must be ensured without discrimination of any kind on the basis of sex, race, colour, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, membership of a national minority, property position, birth or any other characteristics,” it says.
The only Russian judge at the ECHR, Dmitry Dedov, who voted against this decision, issued a separate, dissenting opinion. In it, he defended the position that the court "seriously failed to take into account the fact that the privacy of children is more important than freedom of expression."
Press Secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov said that the ECHR decision will be considered after the Kremlin familiarizes itself with the full wording of the verdict, Interfax reports.
Member of the Human Rights Council (HRC) Ilya Shablinsky told RBC that the ECHR decision creates the preconditions for further filing of claims against Russia, but will not be able to influence changes in Russian legislation. “This decision of the ECHR requires a reaction from the Russian courts - to adjust their position [in relation to cases of propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations], to take into account the opinion of the European Court. But this decision, alas, does not oblige the Russian legislator to change the Administrative Code, which is a pity,” he said. According to Shablinsky, Article 6.21. The Code of Administrative Offenses (“Propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations among minors”) “does not solve anything, but only gives reasons for bringing to administrative responsibility.” “The adoption of this norm was of a political nature, in order to show a certain course towards the protection of traditional values. The decision to abolish it must also be political,” added the HRC member.
Managing partner of the law firm “Dmitry Matveev and Partners” Dmitry Matveev explained to RBC that citizens of Russia who will be involved in the future under Article 6.21. Code of Administrative Offences, may refer to the decision of the ECHR. “It is impossible to say that now Russian judges must make different decisions. But the fact that they must take this position of the ECHR into account is certain. And decisions will be made based on specific circumstances,” he explained. If a decision in a Russian court “is made against them, then they can appeal to the ECHR in the same way,” the lawyer added.
In September 2014, the Russian Constitutional Court “Propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations among minors.” The court concluded that the article did not contain discriminatory provisions. The decision stated that the ban on gay propaganda among minors is aimed “to protect such constitutionally significant values as family and childhood,” as well as to protect the health and spiritual and moral development of children.
At the same time, the Constitutional Court noted that the law considers only public actions illegal, the purpose of which is to disseminate information that imposes and popularizes non-traditional sexual relationships among minors; the established ban does not allow for a broader understanding.
The applicants in the case regarding the discriminatory nature of the article on LGBT propaganda were the founder of the Moscow Gay Pride movement Nikolai Alekseev, as well as gay activists Yaroslav Yevtushenko and Dmitry Isakov. They demanded that Article 6.21 of the Code of the Russian Federation on Administrative Offenses (propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations) be recognized as contradicting a number of provisions of the Russian Constitution, in particular guaranteeing the right to freedom of thought and speech, as well as the right not to be discriminated against.
A law banning homosexual propaganda was adopted in 2013. The law defines propaganda of non-traditional sexual relationships as the dissemination of information aimed at developing in children non-traditional sexual attitudes, the attractiveness of such relationships, a distorted idea of the social equivalence of traditional and non-traditional relationships, as well as the imposition of information that arouses interest in such relationships.
“On amendments to Article 5 of the Federal Law “On the Protection of Children from Information Harmful to Their Health and Development” and certain legislative acts of the Russian Federation in order to protect children from information that promotes the denial of traditional family values.”
In the press and discussions on information resources, this law is called more briefly and, in my opinion, incorrectly: “the law banning the promotion of non-traditional sexual relationships among children.” If we arbitrarily abbreviate the name of the legal document, then it would be more correct: “the law on the protection of children from the promotion of non-traditional sexual relations.”
This law, small in text, is a very clear legal document in terms of existing legislative norms, which it concerns, both in the domestic legislation of Russia and in international law and in particular in the conventional law of the Council of Europe.
Moreover, in the adopted law there is a noticeable focus on a merciful attitude towards participants in legal relations, because of which (but not for the sake of which) this law was adopted - (a term introduced into the legal lexicon by the Council of Europe).
In other words, for persons (people) of non-traditional sexual orientation, this law is a real gift from the Russian state, and the law protects people under the age of majority (children) from complex and not always understandable information regarding their physiological and mental development.
In addition, ordinary people who are not fanatically obsessed with the problems of their own sexual orientation, or rather with the problems of their own sexual perversion, from the moment Law No. 135-FZ comes into force, in order to protect their children from unnecessary information, can legally and formally not oppose themselves to non-traditional people sexual orientation, since this function was legally assumed by the state, effectively freeing fathers, mothers, grandfathers, grandmothers, etc. from uttering “hate speech” and possible “hate crimes” (subparagraphs A, B of Chapter 1 of the Appendix to the Recommendation of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe CM/REC (2010)5).
So, what is the inner strength and what are the beneficial consequences of Federal Law No. 135-FZ?
Federal Law No. 135-FZ (hereinafter referred to as the “Law”) was adopted unanimously by the State Duma of the Russian Federation on June 11, 2013, approved unanimously by the Federation Council of the Russian Federation on June 26, 2013, and without delay (three days later) signed by the President of the Russian Federation on June 29, 2013.
Let us note that between 26 and 29 June 2013, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe adopted Resolution No. Doc. 13223 of June 27, 2013 (only those who were present voted - a minority of all PACE members), which, in particular, states that prejudice against LGBT people is widespread in society; The Resolution calls on the Russian Federation to promote equality among people. This document also states that the prohibition of LGBT propaganda by the Russian Federation would be contrary to Russia’s legal obligations, but it is unclear to whom, but probably to the European Union. This PACE resolution does not say anything about children, about children's rights, about the propaganda among children of perverted sexual relations that take place between some adults.
Considering the adopted Law both in time chronology and in textual richness, it would be appropriate and even necessary to draw parallels with PACE Resolution 13223.
But before we begin to consider the significance of the Law, the following obvious facts related to the adoption of the Law should be recorded:
– consideration and adoption of the Law took place with maximum efficiency, which was due to the urgent need for its adoption;
– The law was adopted with complete unanimity of all government and political forces of the country, and this fact clearly indicates the democratic character of the adopted document;
– the unanimous adoption of the Law allows us to say that in Russian society there are practically no prejudices against LGBT people, one might even say that they do not exist at all. Russian society, represented by its legitimate state bodies, has confirmed and legislated that the territory under Russian legislation is inhabited by people who, among other things, are passionate about perverted sexual relations with each other, regardless of their own gender. These people, called LGBT people in the legal terminology of the European Union, are so committed to sexual perversion that they want all other Russian citizens to know about their “uniquely amazing” way of life and join them at the first opportunity. What prejudices could there be here? Murder will out.
The adopted law, firstly, de jure confirmed the presence of LGBT people in Russian society and recognized their existence as a certain group; secondly, the Law did not prohibit LGBT people from engaging in activities among their own kind; thirdly, it did not prohibit LGBT people from promoting their perverted lifestyle among the adult population of the country. European LGBT leaders should be pleased with such a democratic law.
The text of the Law is fully consistent with the provisions of PACE Resolution 13223 of June 27, 2013, namely: The Law indicates the absence of prejudices towards LGBT people in Russia and, on the contrary, confirms the presence of LGBT people in Russia without any infringement of their private and public rights on grounds sexual perversion; The law affirms the equality of LGBT people with other citizens of the Russian Federation in everything, including responsibility for promoting non-traditional sexual relations among minors under Art. 6.21 Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation. A father and mother with many children and two homosexuals bear equal responsibility for promoting non-traditional sexual relationships among minors. This is the equality of all people, which PACE Resolution 13223 calls for. The Law also shows that LGBT propaganda in the Russian Federation among adults is not prohibited; LGBT people have the full right to promote non-traditional sexual relationships among adult citizens of Russia. They can begin propaganda immediately, starting from the territories of the North Caucasus Federal District and smoothly moving towards the Far Eastern Federal District. And in order to better experience the results of such propaganda among adult citizens of Russia, they should start, for example, with the fathers of large families, with veterans of the Great Patriotic War, with paratroopers or marines.
Moreover, neither in the PACE Resolution, nor in the Recommendations of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe CM/REC (2010)5) no demands are made to the Russian Federation distribute information aimed at developing non-traditional sexual attitudes in minors, the attractiveness of non-traditional sexual relationships, and a distorted idea of the social equivalence of traditional and non-traditional sexual relationships.
Thus, the Law is fully consistent with the obligations of the Russian Federation to the European Union, and was also adopted taking into account all the PACE concerns set out in Resolution No. Doc. 13223 dated June 27, 2013.
Having briefly examined the compliance of the adopted Law with the legal documents of the Council of Europe, which are the most challenging for the current Russian legislation in terms of excessive emphasis in these documents on, a few words should be said about the main focus and internal strength of the June Law.
The subject composition that the adopted Law covers is as follows: firstly, minor citizens of the Russian Federation (hereinafter referred to as “children”); secondly, people (regardless of Russian citizenship) who want to promote non-traditional sexual relations among minor citizens of the Russian Federation; thirdly, people (regardless of Russian citizenship) who do not have the desire and goal to promote non-traditional sexual relationships among minor citizens of the Russian Federation, and, finally, the Russian state represented by its competent authorities and administration.
Children - who are they? People who are least experienced in the affairs of adults of any kind and most unprotected from the influence of the affairs of the adult part of humanity.
Any child is taller and more any adult - for the reason that he stands above the temptations and temptations that the world offers to an independent and free adult and in which this adult delves and chooses something for himself or rejects. As part of human life, children see only what is offered and/or imposed on them by adults, and not only by people close to them, but also by people on TV, on a monitor, on a movie screen, etc.
A minor does not of his own free will understand many things that are obvious to an adult, sometimes in quotation marks. Misunderstanding is the natural state of a child, from which he will naturally emerge when he becomes an adult.
A person in imperfect years hears in words that come from adults only what an adult puts into this word. An LGBT person or a stage seducer can pour so much beauty and attractiveness into the capacious word “Love” that the child will not notice the poison with which this word is mostly filled.
Temptation is not terrible for an adult if he is reasonable, but temptation is deadly for a child, because he takes everything on faith, not having the full ability to reason and evaluate, and this state of his is innate.
Who believes that there is nothing higher than Love in the world, replacing the name of Love with sexual depravity, but without saying it directly, is this not an act of supreme hatred and malice towards this seduced child?
Try to answer in the legal terms of the Council of Europe the question of whether the parents and relatives of the seduced child have natural (not established by legal law) rights to use “hate speech” and/or “hate crimes” against the seducer(s) of their child. I am sure that any father or mother who loves their child in their thoughts is ready to put a stone around the neck of an LGBT propagandist and send them together (both the stone and the face) into the depths of the sea. A terrible prospect for everyone. The child is seduced, the father and mother are in a state of hatred towards another person, the propagandist-seducer is “drowned.” Who is celebrating???
The adopted law 135-FZ resolved this difficult situation, and not in the harsh form of the Law of Human Conscience, for which a millstone around the neck is the best fate for a seducer-debaucher, but in the mild form of monetary fines or short gatherings in a cell with other people, among whom, by the way, the Law did not prohibit LGBT propaganda.
The state has taken on the burden of communicating with LGBT people who want to promote their way of life among minors. Since the adoption of the law, it is now enough for father and mother to call the competent state body and notify the employee about the fact of propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations by certain persons in one place or another. Moreover, and this is the most important thing, the father and mother of a minor now no longer need to torment themselves with hatred of the poor LGBT promoter, and they can direct the released energy to finding and showing the whole world people who lead the development of the temptations of sexual perversion among healthy people (adults and children). Non-traditional sexual relationships are the gradual death of humanity, woe to the world. The people who lead the development of unproductive sexual relations in the world - namely, they lead, using power, money and other means - need to be known personally. Through whom the temptation of sexual perversion comes into the world and into the souls of people, it is necessary to find, describe, demonstrate publicly, but not judge with your own judgment.
The law speaks of minors as a single whole community. Any minor in Russia should not be subjected to propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations. There are no exceptions.
What is the situation with adults within the framework of established legal provisions?
The law divides them into two (hopefully unequal) parts: promoters of non-traditional sexual relations (hereinafter referred to as NSO) among minors and non-propagandists. Both LGBT and non-LGBT people can voluntarily or unwittingly act as propagandists or non-propagandists of NSOs.
The law exempted people living ordinary, natural lives from using actions to suppress the propaganda of sexual perversion based on hostile attitudes towards LGBT people. The focus now is not on hostility or hatred, but on breaking the law. This fact is the most important meaning of the Law. In mortal combat, the saber is always better than the fist.
This suppression will now be carried out by the state at the suggestion of any interested parties. It should be noted that the state, having adopted Law No. 135-FZ, did not legislatively prevent LGBT people from engaging in inappropriate behavior with each other, or in our opinion, debauchery.
Consequently, condemnation of LGBT people simply because they live a perverted sex life among their own kind is unacceptable from the standpoint of the current legislation of Russia. Their actions in their own circle of like-minded people are not subject to the legal norms of the state.
In connection with the adoption of the law as normal - not sexually perverted - people should not condemn the lifestyle of sodomites, but everything must be done to prevent them from washing their dirty linen out of their huts. To do this, it is necessary to constantly and promptly notify government authorities of all known facts of propaganda that denies traditional family values.
It is extremely necessary for judicial practice to appear in this category of cases, as it will contribute to the development and improvement of legislation in this area of human relations. If the judicial practice is extensive, it means that the problem is large and it is necessary to pass more serious laws and mobilize a healthy part of the population to counter the expansion of the influence of LGBT people. If the judicial practice is insignificant, then this fact will objectively indicate the insignificant number of LGBT people in Russia and thereby will contribute to more productive legal communication on this issue with the European Union in terms of the meaninglessness and unnecessaryness of discussing the problems of LGBT people at a high level of interstate communication.
In conclusion, I would like to summarize the main results of the legal progress that has taken place in Russian legislation.
Firstly, the Law does not contradict the legal interpretations and wishes of the Council of Europe documents. The law does not give those seeking a reason to accuse the Russian Federation of failure to comply with the legal guidelines of the European Union on formal grounds. And if you sort things out in the legal field, now it is better to do it within the framework of the legal terminology used in the legal acts of the European Union, gradually creating your own terminology. The adopted Law marked the beginning of this process. The Council of Europe is still cautious in legal terms and qualifications, but that’s it for now.
Secondly, the Law marked the beginning of the development of a legislative framework protecting minors from the promotion of non-traditional sexual relations in Russia.
Obviously, this is only the first timid step towards countering the threat posed by LGBT people to all people. The step is timid, cautious, but very correctly taken in legal terms. It is urgent to work out your internal legal position in this area of relations. It is a legal position based on the interests and preferences of Russian society.
Thirdly, the Law protects LGBT people living or staying on the territory of Russia from manifestations of unnecessary hostility towards them on the part of the democratic majority of Russians, provided that they do not share their pathetic and ugly experience of sexual perversion with minor citizens of Russia.
The law has been passed. Will it protect children from the temptations of perverted forms of sexual depravity? Of course not. The law is only an assistant in resisting seducers, and sensible adults can resist them within the framework of the current legislation of Russia.
“Woe to the world because of temptations, for temptations must come; but woe to the man through whom temptation comes,” these words, spoken almost 2000 years ago from, were addressed both to the seducers and to those who resist the seducers.
I am on the side of those who will resist seducers, using all methods not prohibited by Russian legislation.
I dare to suggest that modern humane or even inhumane legislation of any country in the world will not sentence the depraved seducers of children to death by drowning with a millstone around the neck, in connection with which the “confidants of debauchery” can only thank the Russian state for such a kind attitude towards their persons, expressed in the adoption of Law No. 135-FZ, and slowly begin preparations for the Court. And “he’s waiting...”
