ILGA-Europe in the strongest possible manner condemns a homophobic federal law adopted today by the State Duma, the Russian parliament. ILGA-Europe appeals to international and European institutions not only to condemn this law, but to consider meaningful actions again Russia demanding to repeal this law and to stop state-sponsored homophobia in the country. Martin K.I....

Russia

ILGA-Europe in the strongest possible manner condemns a homophobic federal law adopted today by the State Duma, the Russian parliament.

ILGA-Europe appeals to international and European institutions not only to condemn this law, but to consider meaningful actions again Russia demanding to repeal this law and to stop state-sponsored homophobia in the country.

Martin K.I. Christensen, Co-Chair of ILGA-Europe’s Executive Board, said:

“This is a very sad day for the Russian LGBTI community and for Russian democracy. Today the Russian Parliament cemented its homophobic law at the federal level. Despite strong condemnation by virtually all international and European institutions and human rights organisations, Russian law makers have chosen to disregard their international human rights commitments and to ignore their own Constitution. Today the Russian Duma demonstrated that homophobia is an official state policy.”

Gabi Calleja, Co-Chair of ILGA-Europe’s Executive Board, continued:

“We are deeply concerned by the negative impact of this law. Homophobic rhetoric which accompanied the adoption of this law at the regional and federal level for the last few years already significantly contributed toward a climate of hatred and physical violence against LGBTI people which recently resulted in a number of murders.”

Adopted regional and federal laws banning ‘homosexual propaganda’ are part of a wider systematic crack down on Russian LGBTI and civil society movements in general. Recently adopted laws on foreign agents constitute a very serious and a real threat to the mere existence of civil society organisations: currently a St Petersburg LGBT film festival Bok-o-Bok is on trial in court and potentially faces high financial penalties for not registering foreign support.

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