NAANTALI, Finland, June 25 (RIA Novosti) – Russian President Vladimir Putin reiterated on Tuesday that the rights of sexual minorities in Russia were not being violated in any way.
When asked about a recently passed bill that would impose fines of up to 1 million rubles ($30,000) for promoting homosexuality toward minors, Putin said that sexual minorities “are full-fledged members of our society and are not being discriminated against in any way.”
“It’s not about imposing some sort of sanctions on homosexuality. … It’s about protecting children from such information,” Putin said.
“Certain countries ... think that there is no need to protect [children] from this. … But we are going to provide such protection the way that State Duma [parliamentary] lawmakers have decided. We ask you not to interfere in our governance,” he said.
Russia’s lower house of parliament, the State Duma, passed the bill on June 13. To become law, it needs to be approved by the upper house of parliament, the Federation Council, and signed by Putin.
