Russian President Vladimir Putin has bestowed an honour
on the homophobic lawmaker who drafted the 2013 Russian
law banning “gay propaganda”.
Putin cited Vitaly Milonov of the St Petersburg regional
assembly for his “many years of conscientious work”,
according to an official government website on Monday.
“I’m very proud,” Milonov told AFP. “It’s as if he has given
me an advance and I have to repay him by working even
more.”
Milonov was behind the law banning the dissemination of
“gay propaganda” among minors that drew Western
condemnation.
He is also known for vociferous statements against gays,
calling repeatedly for a “moral police” force in St Petersburg
and organising raids on gay clubs in Russia’s second city.
Recently he called for the shutdown of Facebook, accusing
the social media website of spreading gay propaganda by
allowing users to adorn their profile pictures with rainbow
colours in support of the US Supreme Court ruling in favour
of gay marriage.
Human Rights Watch last December sounded the alarm over
a rising number of homophobic attacks in Russia, saying
that the ban on “gay propaganda” effectively legalised
discrimination.
Russia decriminalised homosexuality in 1993, and stopped
classifying it as a mental illness only in 1999.
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