Russian lawmakers introduce legislation that would criminalize ‘coming out’

He said he wouldn't submit it to the parliament, unless he got approval from his superiors in the Russian Communist Party. Apparently, the Communist brass presented no resistance to his proposal, given that deputy Ivan Nikitchuk has introduced to the Duma new legislation that would make it a misdemeanor for gays to disclose their sexuality publicly. 

In comments last week, Nikitchuk said he only intends for the law to be applied to gay men, explaining that women are more "emotional" and should be "respected."

According to the authors of the new bill, "the public display of perverted sexual preferences in public places" should result in a fine of up to 5,000 rubles (about $77). Such actions near educational, cultural, or youth institutions should carry a penalty of as many as 15 days in jail, the lawmakers argue. 

In the law's explanatory note, Nikitchuk and his co-sponsor Nikolai Arefev also note that US President Barack Obama earlier this year issued a "directive that declares the struggle abroad for the rights of the sexual minorities [sic] to be a priority of US foreign policy." Nikitchuk and Arefev say so-called homosexual propaganda threatens "children and young people, who are often very susceptible to suggestion." They also claim that the "aggressive promotion of homosexual attitudes, including under the guise of protecting human rights, is clearly of a provocative nature." 

“In Russia, before 1999, homosexuality was diagnosed by Soviet and Russian psychiatrists and considered to be a treatable sexual deviation. Despite the fact that homosexuality has recently ceased to be a term denoting mental illness, psychiatric opinion that homosexual relationships are associated with a psychological disease has not changed,” the bill's authors argue.

Since 2013, Russia has observed a law that bans the promotion of so-called "nontraditional sexual orientations" in the presence of minors. The law has been condemned by LGBT rights groups around the world.

In an interview with Echo of Moscow last week, Ivan Nikitchuk, said that he considers homosexuals to be mentally ill people. "When a person proclaims himself to be Napoleon, we lock him up, but when someone doesn't have a clear idea of his own sexuality, then we consider it to be his right," he said, suggesting that homosexuals should be excluded from society.