by Tony Iozzo
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

MOSCOW, Russia — The Duma, Russia’s lower house of parliament, voted to approve bills that would ban promoting homosexual “propaganda” to minors and punish those who offend religious believers, on Tuesday.

Before the vote was to take place, hundreds of anti-gay and religious activists and gay-rights activists gathered outside the State Duma, across from the Red Square in Moscow to voice their concerns. Fighting erupted between those that supported the bills and those that did not. Eggs and urine were tossed between the groups, and eventually 20 people were detained by police.

The anti-gay bill, which was approved by the Duma by a unanimous vote of 436 to 0, will imposed fines to individuals who provide information about the LGBT community to minors or who hold gay pride rallies. An individual would be fined up to $156 and organizations would be fined up to $31,000. The bill would also apply to foreigners that come into Russia.

The anti-gay bill is part of a larger Russian effort to promote traditional Russian values as opposed to Western liberalism, as the Kremlin and the Russian Orthodox Church view the latter as corrupting Russian youth and greatly enhancing the protests against Vladimir Putin’s presidency.

The bill was preliminarily approved in January; however legislators then altered the wording of “homosexual propaganda” to “propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations.”

As the bill was passed by the Duma, it now needs to be passed by the Federation Council, which is the Russian Senate, and signed by the President. This process is considered a formality, however, and the bill is expected to become law by the end of June.

Hostility and violence towards LGBT communities is common in Russia, and human rights activists believe this bill will contribute to an even greater increase in these incidences.

“The draft law would only raise the level of intolerance in Russian society,” reported Human Rights Watch.

Yelena Mizulina, the head of the Russian State Duma’s Committee for Family, Women, and Children, however, believes that the law is a positive step to protect traditional family values. “[The bill prevents] the spreading of information aimed at forming nontraditional sexual attitudes among children, attractiveness of nontraditional sexual relations, or a distorted perception of social equality between the traditional and nontraditional sexual relations,” she stated.

The Duma also passed a bill Tuesday that would impose prison time on those found to be insulting religious believers. This bill would include prison terms of up to one year and fines of up to $9,000. The bill came to light after members of the punk rock band Pussy Riot sang a ballad against President Putin in a cathedral in Moscow last year.

“This is another step in the attack on the right to freely express your opinion, a right guaranteed by the constitution of the Russian Federation,” a researcher at Human Rights Watch opined.

For more information, please see:

Aljazeera – Russian legislators pass “gay propaganda ban” – 11 June 2013

BBC – Russian Duma passes law banning “gay propaganda” – 11 June 2013

Los Angeles Times – Russian lawmakers move to keep information on homosexuality from kids – 11 June 2013

The Moscow Times – Law on “Homosexual Propaganda” Set for Duma Approval – 11 June 2013

Radio Free Europe, Radio Liberty – Russian Duma Passes Ban on “Homosexual Propaganda” – 11 June 2013