The State Duma decided to speed up the hearings on the ban on LGBT propaganda

The Council of the State Duma today, September 19, appointed parliamentary hearings on September 29 on the issue of a complete ban on the promotion of non-traditional sexual relations in Russia.

Two bills are planned to be discussed at the hearings. One of them was introduced in July by deputies from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and A Just Russia – For Truth, headed by Nina Ostanina (Communist Party of the Russian Federation), chairman of the family committee. They proposed that “propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations” be included in the list of prohibited information and that a direct ban be placed on the issuance of cinema licenses to cinemas for any films containing such propaganda. Another draft was prepared, but has not yet been introduced by a group of members of the committee on information policy, headed by its chairman, United Russia Alexander Khinshtein. This document proposes to amend the current article of the Code of Administrative Offenses by extending the ban on “non-traditional” propaganda to citizens of all ages and significantly increasing the penalties for this violation.

Last week, Mr. Khinshtein told Kommersant that the hearings were scheduled to be held in October. But, as Ms. Ostanina told Kommersant, today at a meeting of the council, the deputies decided that they were late with the adoption of a law that “should put a barrier to European gender tolerance.” According to her, the speaker of the Duma, Vyacheslav Volodin, proposed to speed up the holding of the hearings. As another participant in the meeting explained to Kommersant, this is due to the resonance and demands of the parent community to resolve this issue as soon as possible. The council also mentioned the scandal with the “LGBT dance” at the graduation party in one of the lyceums in Yekaterinburg. The hearings are planned to be attended by representatives of all religious denominations, as well as cultural figures.

Earlier today, Mr. Khinshtein said that the Ministry of Justice had prepared a draft positive review of his bill. The response to the initiative of the Communists and Socialist-Revolutionaries from the government has not yet been received, Nina Ostanina said. An informed source told Kommersant that the government is preparing a negative review of the initiative of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and SRHR, since, in particular, the legislation does not contain the concept of “non-traditional sexual relations” used in this document. Ms. Ostanina herself hopes that in the end a “single inter-factional project” will be adopted.

Maria Makutina