As the Russian lower house passes a law that could see anyone who ‘promotes homosexual propaganda’ to anyone under 18 face stiff fines or even jail sentences, 200 anti-gay protesters beat, threw bottles at and abused pro-gay activists.
Disturbing images from Ilya Varlamov show to some extent the abuse that 20 pro-gay rights activists faced yesterday as Russia’s government voted 434-0 to install a new bill that could leave anyone promoting a homosexual lifestyle to anyone under the age of 18 with jail time or a hefty fine.
Vocativ reports that at one point ‘an unidentified Duma official from the Communist Party approached and shook hands with a policeman, and reportedly said: “So are you guys ramping up the pressure on these faggots? Beat them up well! Cut their balls off!” ‘
Violence towards gay and pro-gay rights activists has been ramped up in the past few months, with two murders and numerous attacks happening within a few weeks of each other.
AllOut.org have a petition for the Russian President, Putin. Nearly 85,000 people have already signed it.
The petition asks,
‘TO PRESIDENT PUTIN, RUSSIAN POLITICIANS AND ALL WORLD LEADERS:
We stand with citizens across Russia who are calling on their government to stop the crackdown against lesbian, gay, bi and trans people that is fuelling anti-gay violence.
We urge leaders around the world and within Russia to work to eliminate all anti-gay laws and protect all citizens from violence and discrimination in Russia.’
