by WIKTORIA BIELIASZYN
Putin emphasizes that the LGBTQ community is not discriminated against in Russia. A draft has now entered the Duma that prevents transgender people from formally reconciling their gender.
The authorities want to ban transgender people from marrying. It is possible that in the near future it will be more difficult for couples in which one of the people has undergone the transition process to adopt a child. The authors of the latest draft, including Senator Jelena Mizulina, known for her numerous controversial ideas (such as the one about decriminalizing domestic violence), demand that transgender people also be deprived of the possibility of legal gender reconciliation. In other words, people after legal surgical and pharmacological transition could not obtain new documents.
Marriage as "a union of a woman and a man"
All this to "strengthen the institution of the family". "It is necessary to end the practice of registering same-sex marriages, in this case those who changed it, and thus prevent their adoption of children," Mizulina explained. As she added, the basis for changes to the Family Code is the new version of the constitution: the Russian authorities are obliged to defend the value of "marriage", that is, "the relationship between a woman and a man". Mizulina strives to make child adoption impossible for homosexual married couples who are married abroad, and for foreigners from countries where such marriages are legal.
“In Russia, there has not been, and there will be no restrictions on your rights based on skin color, sexual orientation, nationality or religion. When it comes to prohibiting the promotion of homosexuality among minors, we must allow the young person to grow up and decide for himself. The ban only applies to imposing orientation, "said Putin in early July, when asked about the provision on" marriage as a union between a woman and a man. "
The president is defended by his press secretary, Dmitry Peskov. When asked if Putin tolerated homophobia, he replied that "he does not tolerate any exaggeration, and homophobia undoubtedly is."
Who in Russia is bothered by the rainbow
Both Peskov and Putin are not true. The president apparently doesn't know that a man doesn't choose his own sexual orientation. Their words are contradicted by the real situation of the LGBTQ community in Russia, reports from independent opinion centers, data provided by human rights defenders, etc., and Putin. A moment later he added: "If there are grounds to believe that non-traditional values are being promoted, it should be checked, but not aggressively." This is a dangerous announcement. Especially that, according to the Levada Center research, 30 percent. Russians support the isolation of non-heteronormative people, and 18 percent for their liquidation.
Officials and politicians are particularly eager to control public space. During the July meeting of the working group working on the constitution, Yekaterina Lyakhov from the Union of Russian Women filed a complaint with the president. The multicolored Tęcza ice cream, which appeared in Russian stores this summer, promotes "non-traditional values" and "gets children used to seeing the rainbow flag." Putin decided that the matter must be investigated. This, in turn, sparked an avalanche of mocking Twitter feeds. Someone wrote: “I demand a ban on the phenomenon of diffraction of light. This is a promotion of homosexuality. Since every ray of light can be split and transformed into a rainbow, it means that any decent citizen can be gay! "