Legislation banning promotion of “gay propaganda” has passed its first reading in Siberia. The bill, which prohibits the promotion of homosexual, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender practices among minors. The bill will also be debated in a final reading by lawmakers of Novosibirsk. Similar bills have been passed in several Russian regions, including the city of St. Petersburg.
A video posted online titled “All the Truth about Russians,” was ruled extremist by a Novosibirsk court on Monday. The video, posted on social networking sites by a man from the town of Berdsk who faces extremism charges in the case, has been removed and banned because it shows Russians in a negative light, the regional prosecutor said in a statement. It has been reported that audio accompanying the video included statements about “how easy Russian women are” and how Russian men “are not worthy of being called men”.
A St Petersburg judge has postponed a hearing faced by chairman of the Russian LGBT Network and an independent attorney under the city’s new anti-gay censorship law, as papers relating to the charge were found to be missing. The hearing, originally scheduled for 16 April, will now take place on 23 April. Attorney Sergey Kondrashov and LGBT Network chair Igor Kochetkov are charged with the promotion and propaganda of homosexuality as well as disobeying a police officer. They were arrested on 7 April in St Petersburg while protesting the new law with banners during a “Day of Silence”.
Robert McCrum considers Index’s role in the history of the fight for free speech, from the oppression of the Cold War to censorship online