MOSCOW (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - The first Russian minor to be fined under a new law against so-called gay propaganda for posting pictures of shirtless men embracing has filed an appeal, his lawyer said on Monday.

Maxim Neverov, 16, was fined 50,000 rubles ($760) this month after a commission on juvenile affairs found him guilty of “promoting non-traditional sexual relationship among minors”.

He was the first minor to be fined under the law, which makes any event or act regarded by the authorities as an attempt to promote homosexuality to minors illegal. It has previously been used to stop gay pride marches and detain gay rights activists.

“Yesterday we mailed our appeal (to the authorities). It should be considered and ruled on within two months,” Neverov’s lawyer Artyom Lapov told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by phone.

Neverov has denied that the pictures posted on the social network VKontakte amounted to gay propaganda.

“All people’s rights are being violated in Russia, not just LGBT people’s,” he said in an interview before the appeal was filed on Sunday.

“And I believe LGBT are just people, so there is no reason to fight for LGBT rights separately from everyone else’s.” Read more via Thomson Reuters Foundation