MOSCOW, September 19 (RIA Novosti) – A group of Russian activists held an unsanctioned rally Thursday outside the parliament building in Moscow, offering “psychiatric help” to lawmakers over the legislators’ latest initiatives targeting the LGBT community, the GayRussia news site reported.
Five LGBT activists dressed in blue medical gowns stood outside the building of the State Duma – the lower house of parliament – on Thursday holding a poster that read “Psychiatric Help for State Duma Deputies,” according to a photo posted on the website.
The protest’s organizer, gay rights activist Alexei Davydov, said that “the ideas of certain State Duma lawmakers that have been turned into laws are not only lacking in logic and grounds; they cast doubt on the state of mind of those deputies,” and suggested that the legislators seek help.
In June, a controversial and vaguely worded bill was signed into law banning the promotion of "non-traditional sexual relationships" to minors, making it an offense punishable with hefty fines. The law has been widely criticized in Russia and abroad as a clampdown on the rights of the LGBT community in Russia.
Last month, the Duma proposed introducing a ban on gay blood donors.
In July, President Vladimir Putin signed a law banning same-sex couples from adopting children, and earlier this month, United Russia lawmaker Alexei Zhuravlyov submitted a bill that would allow authorities to take children away from same-sex couples, though it hasn’t yet received any significant public backing.
