Anti-LGBT Bill Designed to Distract Attention from War in Ukraine will Make Lives of Russian Gays Worse and Cause Many to Emigrate, Activists Say

Paul Goble

            Staunton, July 28 – A survey conducted by Current Time Television about the proposal to expand restrictions on any public reference to LGBT life finds that most activists think it was offered now during the Duma summer recess to distract attention from problems with Putin’s war in Ukraine.

            They disagree, the network says, with how much worse the situation will become for them if the bill is eventually adopted, with some arguing that it will isolate the community still further while others say it will only formalize and officialize what is already happening (currenttime.tv/a/nasha-bezopasnost-pod-ogromnym-voprosom-chto-zhdet-lbgt-pri-novom-zakone-o-propagande-netraditsionnyh-seksualnyh-otnosheniy-/31955534.html).

            But there appears to be widespread agreement that the latest repressive measure will drive many of the members of the community underground or keep those who have not come out there and cause an increasing number of both to consider emigrating to countries where they can live more freely.