Russia’s Putin Signs ‘Gay Propaganda’ Ban Into Law

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed into law a bill punishing people for homosexual “propaganda”, an official publication showed Sunday, in a move critics fear will fuel hate crimes.

In another controversial step, Putin also signed a bill imposing jail terms and fines on those who offend religious believers, seen as a response to last year’s anti-Putin stunt by the punk band Pussy Riot in a Moscow cathedral.

Rights activists and Western governments have criticised both bills as part of an unprecedented crackdown on dissenting voices after Putin returned to the Kremlin last year.

The anti-propaganda law introduces fines of up to 5,000 rubles ($156) for citizens who disseminate information aimed at minors “directed at forming nontraditional sexual setup” or which may cause a “distorted understanding” that gay and heterosexual relations are “socially equivalent”, the official publication of the bill showed.

Read more from this story HERE.