By Alexandra Sandacz
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe
MOSCOW, Russia – Russian President, Vladmir Putin, ordered a ban on foreign adoptions to homosexual couples.
The issue of same-sex couples adopting sparked in Russia when the French National Assembly approved a bill that legalized marriage and adoption by same-sex couples. As a result, Pavel Astakhov, a Russian children’s rights ombudsman, declared he believes Russian orphans should only be placed with heterosexual couples.
However, despite this movement, Nikolay Alekseyev, a Russian gay rights activist, believes Putin’s and Astakhov’s new ban will be unsuccessful. He states, “It’s purely a political move aimed to show that the government is consistent in its decisions.”
The Russian Foreign Ministry declared a planned to verify the possible “psychological damage” inflicted on Russian orphan, Yegor Shabatalov. An American woman, who lived in a same-sex marriage, adopted Yegor Shabatalov.
Russian Foreign Ministry’s Commissioner for Human Rights, Konstantin Dolgov, believes that after the two women split, the son was drawn into a bitter dispute and the relationship is “rather questionable from the point of view of morality.”
Nadezhda Khramova, head of the ‘All-Russian Parents’ Assembly’ movement, says there should be a complete ban of foreign adoptions, as “it is technically difficult to verify the adoptive parents’ sexual orientation and their legal status can be a marriage of convenience”.
This recent foreign adoption ban accompanies an already implemented law that makes it illegal for Russian children to be adopted by Americans, regardless of sexual orientation.
However, although many Russians are opposed to the American ban, Russians hold a firm stance against homosexual behavior. For example, last August, Moscow’s highest court upheld the city’s ban on homosexual pride parades.
Public polls from 2010 showed that 38% of Russians believed that homosexuality is a “bad habit” and 36% said it was “a sickness or result of a psychological trauma.” Nevertheless, 41% of Russians believe that laws should not “discriminate” against homosexuals.
Putin’s recent bans on foreign homosexuals from adopting Russian children has sparked various reactions.
One commenter stated, “I challenge anyone on here to cite a single scientific study that shows that gay adoption has any negative effects compared to straight adoption, and no, the Bible doesn’t count, because we don’t live in a theocracy. Go to Saudi Arabia if that’s what you want.”
Another stated, “This is best for the children. They must be kept safe even if it hurts some feelings. Putin is smart.”
The Ministry of Education and Science, which deals with issues concerning orphans and adoptions, will fulfill the adoption ban. However, the ministry has not received instructions.
For further information, please see:
RFE/RL – Russians March Against Foreign Adoptions – 4 April 2013
The Advocate – Putin Wants to Stop Foreign Gay Couples From Adopting Russian Children – 1 April 2013
Christian News – Russian President Orders Ban on Foreign Adoptions to Homosexuals – 30 March 2013
RT – Putin Orders Ban on Adoptions By Foreign Same-Sex Couples – 28 March 2013
