St Petersburg’s Governor is being urged to veto a homophobic bill adopted by the city’s parliament. The Russian city’s parliament has adopted a bill that would impose fines on people engaging in “public activities to promote sodomy, lesbianism, bisexuality and transsexuality” that might be observed by minors. The governor has two weeks to veto the bill or sign it into law. “February 29 was a dark day for St Petersburg and for Russia as this damning anti-gay bill came one step closer to becoming law,” says Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The governor now has an opportunity to uphold the rule of law and stop this discriminatory and dangerous initiative in Russia’s northern capital.” Human Rights Watch says the bill’s language is so vague and broad that it could lead to a ban on displaying a rainbow flag or wearing a T-shirt with a gay-friendly logo or even on holding lgbt-themed rallies in the city. The vote in St Petersburg follows the approval of similar laws in other parts of Russia; in Ryazan in 2006, in Arkhangelsk in September 2011, and in Kostroma in February 2012. Many nongovernmental organizations and activists have spoken out against it and called on the Russian authorities to stop the bill from being adopted. The US State Department, the UK Foreign Office, the Australian Government, and the European Parliament have also expressed profound concern. Human Rights Watch says the environment for lgbt people in Russia is very hostile, and activists are vulnerable to harassment and physical attack. It says authorities routinely ban and violently disperse gay demonstrations. In October 2010 the European Court of Human Rights found Russia in violation of freedom of assembly for repeatedly denying activists the right to hold gay pride marches
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Friday, 2nd March 2012 - 1:27pm