Amnesty urges Russian authorities to drop bill curtailing gay, transgender rights
Mon, 21 Nov 2011 18:27 GMT
Russian gay rights leader Nikolai Alexeyev (C) argues with police as they detain him after he arrived with a man dressed in a bridal gown at an unsanctioned gay rights protest in Moscow May 16, 2009. REUTERS/Alexander Natruskin
By Rebekah Curtis
LONDON (TrustLaw) – Amnesty International on Friday urged authorities in St Petersburg not to enact a bill it says would stoke discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people in the Russian city, the human rights group said.
If enacted then the law, which St Petersburg’s assembly passed nearly unanimously on the first of three readings on Wednesday, would allow authorities to impose fines of up to $1,500 for ‘public actions aimed at propaganda of sodomy, lesbianism, bisexuality, and transgenderism among minors,’ Amnesty said on its website.
“This would rule out nearly all public events carried out by or on behalf of LGBTI people and organisations,” Amnesty said. “The publication of anything relating to LGBTI rights or providing assistance or advice - including informative leaflets as well as publications in the media and on the internet - would also be severely curtailed.”
The Moscow Times, meanwhile, calls the bill a “throwback to Soviet times.”
“This bill is a thinly-veiled attempt to legalise discrimination against lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender people in Russia’s second-biggest city,” said Amnesty International Europe and Central Asia Director Nicola Duckworth.
“Legislation like that proposed in St Petersburg will only further marginalise LGBTI people, and must be stopped,” Duckworth added.
Other cities in Russia including Moscow have planned legislation to ban ‘propaganda for homosexuality’, while Arkhangelsk and the Riazan region have already introduced such legislation, Amnesty said, adding LGBTI people still face widespread discrimination and violence in the country.
“The ruling party led by President Medvedev and Prime Minister Putin could make millions of people invisible with the stroke of a pen,” lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights group All Out said on its website.
“Right now, the world needs to speak up and tell Russian authorities to drop the bill.”
(Editing by Natasha Elkington)
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