One of our long term goals of the Sphere is the abolition of the law on “LGBT+ propaganda”.
The “Law on the promotion of non-traditional sexual relations among minors” was adopted in 2013. Formally, it was a series of amendments to the law “On Protecting Children from Information Harmful to Their Health and Development”, as well as to the Code of Administrative Offenses and various other laws.
At the end of 2022, the authorities in Russia began to insist on spreading the ban on “LGBT+ propaganda” among all ages, further demonizing the queer community and denying its existence as a social group. And, unfortunately, these laws have been adopted.
Since October 2022, as soon as the amendments were submitted to the State Duma, we have been urging deputies not to support the new tightening of the LGBT+ ban.
We have sent almost 15 thousand emails, but received responses to only 10% of them
In Russia today anyone can be fined for “LGBT+ propaganda”: the fines go up to 400 thousand rubles for individuals, and up to 4 million rubles for legal entities. Also, a link to a website which, according to law enforsement officers, is spreading “propaganda” can be added to the Unified Register of Prohibited Sites, making it impossible to access the website from the territory of the Russian Federation.
We are campaigning for the repeal of the law at both nationaland international levels. One of the most effective methods that we use is petitions that draw attention to the existing problems and help find out the number of those who disagree with the queer policy of the state.