Russia lawmakers submit bill to expand ‘gay propaganda’ law to include all ages News
SharonMcCutcheon / Pixabay
Russia lawmakers submit bill to expand ‘gay propaganda’ law to include all ages

Russian lawmakers have submitted a bill to the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian Parliament, to expand the country’s 2013 law prohibiting the “promotion” of “non-traditional sexual relations” to minors.

The bill, submitted Monday, would ban “the propaganda of denial of family values and non-traditional sexual relations,” and apply irrespective of age. The explanatory note to the bill states:

Public approval and recognition of such relationships is dangerous not only for children and young people who are not yet able to critically consider the information that is freely available to them every day, but also for the whole society, as it puts questions of demography and economic growth in the future under certain hit.

It continues:

The prohibition of propaganda does not deprive citizens of the opportunity and right to determine their sexual preference and orientation, does not allow discrimination, however, does not give the right to public approval of such relations and the dissemination of so-called “new” values that carry hidden threats to society.

In a statement by Aleksandr Khinshtein, Chairman of the Committee of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation on Information Policy, Information Technology and Communications, he said that the committee was proposing to “extend the ban on such propaganda, regardless of the age of the audience (offline, media, Internet, social networks, as well as online cinemas),” and “establish a separate, even more stringent responsibility for promoting pedophilia.”

Dissemination of such “propaganda” is currently subject to a fine of up to 1 million rubles (approximately USD 18,100) or up to 15 days in jail.

The bill will have to pass four rounds of voting in the two houses of the Russian parliament and be signed by President Vladimir Putin before it becomes law.

THIS DAY @ LAW

American colonists throw tea into Boston harbor in protest of Britain-imposed tea tax

A group of American colonists known as the "Sons of Liberty" boarded an East India Company ship carrying tea disguised as Native Americans on December 16, 1773, throwing the cargo overboard in protest of the British Parliament's taxes on tea imported by Americans. The protest would result in five acts of Parliament known as the "Intolerable Acts," including the Boston Port Act, which closed Boston Harbor to all ships. Read an eyewitness account of the Boston Tea Party.

President Truman proclaims state of emergency in response to China entry into Korea War

On December 16, 1950, US President Harry S. Truman proclaimed a national state of emergency during the Korean War in response to Chinese intervention.