The authorities in Russia must act to prevent the passing of discriminatory and homophobic legislation. On February 8, 2012, the St. Petersburg Legislative Assembly passed in second reading a bill to impose fines for “public activities to promote sodomy, lesbianism, bisexuality and transsexuality.” The maximum penalties for violating the provisions of the bill are 5,000 roubles ($170) and, for officials, 50,000 roubles ($1,725). Legislation of this kind is discriminatory and an unwarranted restriction on freedom of expression and assembly for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) individuals. As such, it is in violation of Russia’s international human rights obligations.

This bill is profoundly repugnant in the manner in which it seeks to equate homosexuality with a crime like paedophilia. Similar legislation has already been enacted in Ryazan, Arkhangelsk and Kostroma.

St. Petersburg is home to a number of important LGBT organizations, including the LGBT organization Coming Out, the Russian LGBT Network, and Side by Side LGBT film festival. The St Petersburg LGBT Organisation Coming Out says: “If this law is passed, Russian LGBT will live in fear of punishment just for being open about sexual orientation in their social environment. It paves the way to legalized discrimination, justifies violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people. Moreover, under the pretence of protecting minors, this law in fact will lead to further isolation and greater number of suicides by homosexual adolescents in a country that is already leading in the numbers of teenage suicides. “

Allout, Amnesty International, Human Rights First and Human Rights Watch have called for this legislation to be abandoned.

As a recent blog on Rights in Russia pointed out: “Apart from lobbying the authorities in Russia, we should not forget the brave people in St Petersburg who are publicly protesting against this bill. They deserve our deep respect and will welcome messages of international solidarity reflecting widespread revulsion against these grim homophobic proposals.”

We join with human rights defenders and public figures calling for the immediate release of Sergei Udaltsov, leader of the Left Front political movement, from prison. 

In Russia today, 10 December 2011, human rights have come of age. No one should be surprised that a clash has occurred between the regime led by Vladimir Putin and Russian society. Today, Vladimir Putin and society talk to each other from different historical epochs. Over the last twenty years society has changed enormously, but the political regime and its masters have remained stuck with a mindset that is closely linked to Soviet traditions. In Vladimir Putin ‘s vision of the world, to strengthen political power you need to control television and the press, manipulate elections, and resist the development of civil and political rights. Those in power accept as a matter of course that elections should be manipulated to deliver the required results. But Russian society has changed. On 4 December a large number of people suddenly woke up to the fact that the elections were fraudulent, and they did not like it. Just as nothing succeeds like success, so nothing fails like failure. Not only did the extensive electoral manipulation fail to produce a better result for the authorities, but it was exposed for what it was. For many Russians, this has been a ‘Wizard of Oz’ moment, and they have lost their respect for, and fear of, the regime led by Vladimir Putin. Today, as demonstrators fill the streets of Moscow and other Russian cities to protest against the denial of their electoral rights and in support of the basic norms of democratic governance, human rights have come of age in Russia.