New Russian bill orders fines, arrest for public coming out as 'gay'

Rt.com reports: Two Communist Party MPs have drafted a bill that bans any public demonstration of “non-traditional” sexual orientation and orders monetary fines or up to 15 days of administrative detention for violation of this rule. State Duma lawmakers Ivan Nikitchuk and Nikolay Arefyev want to amend the Russian Administrative Code with a new article listing “public expression of non-traditional sexual relations” as a violation. An explanatory note attached to the draft reads that if this expression takes the form of “demonstration of one’s distorted sexual preferences in public places,” it must be punished with fines between 4,000 and 5,000 rubles ($64-$80 at current rate). And those who do this in educational and cultural establishments or offices of state and municipal authorities can face up to 15 days of arrest. “I think that the problem is acute and urgent because it concerns the social diseases of our society and the moral upbringing of the younger generation. Unfortunately, the mechanism suggested in the 2013 law ‘On the protection of children against the information that harms their health and development’ has proved to be ineffective and this prompted us to develop new measures,” Nikitchuk said in comments with Izvestia daily...