Memorandum on the threat against LGBT freedom of speech and freedom of expression
19/09/2011
Submitted by
Russian LGBT Network
At its subsequent session on September 21-22, 2011, Arkhangelsk Region Lawmakers
Assembly is planning to pass in second reading the regional legislation “Changes and
supplements to the regional legislation “Special measures for protection of morals and
health of children in Arkhangelsk Region”. Given changes will add to the current
legislation with the Article 10 “Measures against public actions directed to promote
homosexuality among minors (under age), which states: “Public actions directed to
promote homosexuality among minors (under age) are prohibited”. This legislation was
accepted in first reading unanimously.
The closing of the mentioned above legislation, signed by I.V. Khudyakova, head of the
department that supports legislative activities by the State Legal Administration of
Arkhangelsk Region Lawmakers Assembly, contains a reference to the court ruling by
the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation dated January 19, 2010 № 151-O-O,
which states that “the prohibition itself of such propaganda – as an activity of purposeful
and uncontrolled distribution of information that can endanger health, morals and
intellectual development, including forming perverted understanding about social
equality and traditional and untraditional marital relationships, among those who are
under age and are not able to comprehend and make such decisions by themselves,
cannot be viewed as violating constitutionals rights of citizens”. The same closing states
that based on the definition by Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, the
specified provisions of the law cannot be viewed as inadequately restrictive for freedom
of speech”.
The same provisions of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation can be found
word for word in the response of the Governor’s Representative in the Arkhangelsk
Region O. L. Smirnova and in the response from the legal department of the Arkhangelsk
Region Governor’s administration and Arkhangelsk Region administration, by head of
the legislative acts department A.N. Ratmanov, which we received in response to our
written requests.
Memorandum to this regional law, signed by the member of the regional assembly A.V.
Dyatlov, appeals to the thesis of the development of homosexuality among children who
are raised in single-parent and disadvantaged families, as well as to the thesis of the
responsibility of homosexuals for the decline in birthrate. In particular, this document
states that: “Promotion of homosexuality in the region will directly trigger an increase in the number of homosexual relationships in the risk groups in question, and that will
clearly lead to an even greater decline of the already low birthrate”.
The Russian LGBT Network considers the passing of this law to be antidemocratic
and directed at the limitation of human rights to freedom of association, freedom of
peaceful meetings and freedom of expression for particular individuals, their
groups, and organizations.
1. The enactment of this law may lead to an unjustified limitation of citizens’ rights to
freedom of association and assembly in the region due to the fact that any public event
carried out in defense of human rights of homosexual, bisexual and transgender people
may be classified as “propaganda of homosexuality among minors (under age)” since
even organizers of a public event are not able to restrict access to a public space – an
open territory – for young people, who may happen to be there by chance.
2. The enactment of this law may have significant negative influence on adherence to the
right to freedom of opinion and expression. In this case the opinions in question are those
that correlate with the position of numerous international bodies and organizations.
Moreover, information on homosexuality is not information on illegal activity. It is
unacceptable in the legal perspective to bring someone to court for the dissemination of
the information that is supported by many international organizations Russia is part of
and that concerns phenomena which violate no laws. In other words, the passing of this
law may cause the introduction of census and limitation of freedom of speech not only
for LGBT representatives but for journalists as well.
3. The law in question contradicts the letter and the spirit of a number of international
documents on human rights protection (Articles 19, 21, 22 of the International Covenant
on Civil and Political Rights; Articles 10, 11 of the Council of Europe’s Convention for
the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms; Council of Europe
Committee of Ministers Recommendation No. CM/Rec(2010)5 to the member states on
measures to combat discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity dated
March 31, 2010; Recommendation No. 211 (2007) on freedom of assembly and opinion
for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people accepted by the Council of
Europe Congress of local and regional authorities; European Court of Human Rights
resolution on Bachkovski et al. v. Poland, complaint No. 1543/06, resolution dated May
3, 2007, and Alexeev v. Russia, complaints No. 4916/07, 25924/08 and 14599/09,
resolution dated November 21, 2010, V. v. France complaint No. 13343/87, as of March
25, 1992, Dudgeon v. The United Kingdom, complaint No. 7525/76, as of October 22,
1981 and further procedures; and a great number of other recommendations and
resolutions signed by authorized international organizations of which Russia is a
member).
4. An appeal to the definition of the term “homosexual propaganda” suggested by the
Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation is unsound due to the following facts:
A) The Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation is not a legislative body, i.e. its
statements cannot be considered in this case as a source of law;
B) The federal legislator has already expressed its position regarding the introduction of
non-responsibility for “promoting homosexuality” in 2003, 2006 and 2009 (see
Conclusion of the Government of the Russian Federation dated June 13, 2006 No. 2063p-
P4; Conclusion of the State Duma Committee on information policy, information
technologies and communication dated May 7, 2009).
C) The statement about non-equivalence of different relationships in itself is a
proposition which does not follow the letter and the spirit of the Constitution of the
Russian Federation (Article 17.1, 18, 19, 29, 30, 31, 55). Let us recall that regional law
must not conflict with federal law. In the given case there is an open contradiction and
inconsistency of the law in question to the letter and the spirit of federal law.
5. This bill is being passed without a proper scientific examination of its contents.
Independent experts (psychologists, sociologists, demographers, lawyers) confirm the
invalidity, the wrongness and the falsity of the premises upon which this bill is passed. At
the moment there is no scientific data suggesting that the very mentioning of
homosexuality or open public discussion of sexual minorities can have any negative
influence on minors, as well as on the demographic situation. Homosexuality is a morally
neutral characteristic. Thus, the enactment of this law does not serve to protect children
and increase the birth rate in the region, which the deputy members of the Arkhangelsk
Regional Assembly reference to in order to justify their decision on this enactment.
6. The enactment of this law contradicts the interests and rights of minors. As evidenced
by the official journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics "Pediatrics" (Vol. 118, No.
1, July 2006, pp. 349-364), “at least 47% of gay teens have seriously concidered suicide,
36% have already attempted it.” This happens because of the isolation, strongest rejection
from peers, ridicule, insults and / or depression experienced by them. The prohibition of
public discussion of homosexuality affects these minors even more. Let us recall that
Russia is the world leader by the teen suicide rate (“Teenage Mortality in the Russian
Federation”, Moscow, 2010), and ignoring the issues of sexual orientation and gender
identity aggravates it. One should not forget about such a phenomenon as “homophobic
bullying”, which manifests itself in verbal, physical and sexual violence and sometimes
might become the cause of suicide among minors. According to experts, both
homosexual and heterosexual children and adolescents can face homophobic harassment.
Combating homophobic bullying effectively is only possible if the relevant information is
included in educational programs on tolerance.
7. This law is being enacted without proper public consultation and without taking into
account all the spectrum of opinions on this issue that exists among members of different
groups of the population of the Arkhangelsk region.
Due to the above, we call on international organizations to draw the Russian
government’s attention to the inadmissibility of the unreasonable, by the
international standards in the protection of human rights, restrictions on freedom of
assembly and expression, as well as the right to disseminate information on sexual
orientation and gender identity.
Assembly is planning to pass in second reading the regional legislation “Changes and
supplements to the regional legislation “Special measures for protection of morals and
health of children in Arkhangelsk Region”. Given changes will add to the current
legislation with the Article 10 “Measures against public actions directed to promote
homosexuality among minors (under age), which states: “Public actions directed to
promote homosexuality among minors (under age) are prohibited”. This legislation was
accepted in first reading unanimously.
The closing of the mentioned above legislation, signed by I.V. Khudyakova, head of the
department that supports legislative activities by the State Legal Administration of
Arkhangelsk Region Lawmakers Assembly, contains a reference to the court ruling by
the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation dated January 19, 2010 № 151-O-O,
which states that “the prohibition itself of such propaganda – as an activity of purposeful
and uncontrolled distribution of information that can endanger health, morals and
intellectual development, including forming perverted understanding about social
equality and traditional and untraditional marital relationships, among those who are
under age and are not able to comprehend and make such decisions by themselves,
cannot be viewed as violating constitutionals rights of citizens”. The same closing states
that based on the definition by Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, the
specified provisions of the law cannot be viewed as inadequately restrictive for freedom
of speech”.
The same provisions of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation can be found
word for word in the response of the Governor’s Representative in the Arkhangelsk
Region O. L. Smirnova and in the response from the legal department of the Arkhangelsk
Region Governor’s administration and Arkhangelsk Region administration, by head of
the legislative acts department A.N. Ratmanov, which we received in response to our
written requests.
Memorandum to this regional law, signed by the member of the regional assembly A.V.
Dyatlov, appeals to the thesis of the development of homosexuality among children who
are raised in single-parent and disadvantaged families, as well as to the thesis of the
responsibility of homosexuals for the decline in birthrate. In particular, this document
states that: “Promotion of homosexuality in the region will directly trigger an increase in the number of homosexual relationships in the risk groups in question, and that will
clearly lead to an even greater decline of the already low birthrate”.
The Russian LGBT Network considers the passing of this law to be antidemocratic
and directed at the limitation of human rights to freedom of association, freedom of
peaceful meetings and freedom of expression for particular individuals, their
groups, and organizations.
1. The enactment of this law may lead to an unjustified limitation of citizens’ rights to
freedom of association and assembly in the region due to the fact that any public event
carried out in defense of human rights of homosexual, bisexual and transgender people
may be classified as “propaganda of homosexuality among minors (under age)” since
even organizers of a public event are not able to restrict access to a public space – an
open territory – for young people, who may happen to be there by chance.
2. The enactment of this law may have significant negative influence on adherence to the
right to freedom of opinion and expression. In this case the opinions in question are those
that correlate with the position of numerous international bodies and organizations.
Moreover, information on homosexuality is not information on illegal activity. It is
unacceptable in the legal perspective to bring someone to court for the dissemination of
the information that is supported by many international organizations Russia is part of
and that concerns phenomena which violate no laws. In other words, the passing of this
law may cause the introduction of census and limitation of freedom of speech not only
for LGBT representatives but for journalists as well.
3. The law in question contradicts the letter and the spirit of a number of international
documents on human rights protection (Articles 19, 21, 22 of the International Covenant
on Civil and Political Rights; Articles 10, 11 of the Council of Europe’s Convention for
the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms; Council of Europe
Committee of Ministers Recommendation No. CM/Rec(2010)5 to the member states on
measures to combat discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity dated
March 31, 2010; Recommendation No. 211 (2007) on freedom of assembly and opinion
for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people accepted by the Council of
Europe Congress of local and regional authorities; European Court of Human Rights
resolution on Bachkovski et al. v. Poland, complaint No. 1543/06, resolution dated May
3, 2007, and Alexeev v. Russia, complaints No. 4916/07, 25924/08 and 14599/09,
resolution dated November 21, 2010, V. v. France complaint No. 13343/87, as of March
25, 1992, Dudgeon v. The United Kingdom, complaint No. 7525/76, as of October 22,
1981 and further procedures; and a great number of other recommendations and
resolutions signed by authorized international organizations of which Russia is a
member).
4. An appeal to the definition of the term “homosexual propaganda” suggested by the
Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation is unsound due to the following facts:
A) The Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation is not a legislative body, i.e. its
statements cannot be considered in this case as a source of law;
B) The federal legislator has already expressed its position regarding the introduction of
non-responsibility for “promoting homosexuality” in 2003, 2006 and 2009 (see
Conclusion of the Government of the Russian Federation dated June 13, 2006 No. 2063p-
P4; Conclusion of the State Duma Committee on information policy, information
technologies and communication dated May 7, 2009).
C) The statement about non-equivalence of different relationships in itself is a
proposition which does not follow the letter and the spirit of the Constitution of the
Russian Federation (Article 17.1, 18, 19, 29, 30, 31, 55). Let us recall that regional law
must not conflict with federal law. In the given case there is an open contradiction and
inconsistency of the law in question to the letter and the spirit of federal law.
5. This bill is being passed without a proper scientific examination of its contents.
Independent experts (psychologists, sociologists, demographers, lawyers) confirm the
invalidity, the wrongness and the falsity of the premises upon which this bill is passed. At
the moment there is no scientific data suggesting that the very mentioning of
homosexuality or open public discussion of sexual minorities can have any negative
influence on minors, as well as on the demographic situation. Homosexuality is a morally
neutral characteristic. Thus, the enactment of this law does not serve to protect children
and increase the birth rate in the region, which the deputy members of the Arkhangelsk
Regional Assembly reference to in order to justify their decision on this enactment.
6. The enactment of this law contradicts the interests and rights of minors. As evidenced
by the official journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics "Pediatrics" (Vol. 118, No.
1, July 2006, pp. 349-364), “at least 47% of gay teens have seriously concidered suicide,
36% have already attempted it.” This happens because of the isolation, strongest rejection
from peers, ridicule, insults and / or depression experienced by them. The prohibition of
public discussion of homosexuality affects these minors even more. Let us recall that
Russia is the world leader by the teen suicide rate (“Teenage Mortality in the Russian
Federation”, Moscow, 2010), and ignoring the issues of sexual orientation and gender
identity aggravates it. One should not forget about such a phenomenon as “homophobic
bullying”, which manifests itself in verbal, physical and sexual violence and sometimes
might become the cause of suicide among minors. According to experts, both
homosexual and heterosexual children and adolescents can face homophobic harassment.
Combating homophobic bullying effectively is only possible if the relevant information is
included in educational programs on tolerance.
7. This law is being enacted without proper public consultation and without taking into
account all the spectrum of opinions on this issue that exists among members of different
groups of the population of the Arkhangelsk region.
Due to the above, we call on international organizations to draw the Russian
government’s attention to the inadmissibility of the unreasonable, by the
international standards in the protection of human rights, restrictions on freedom of
assembly and expression, as well as the right to disseminate information on sexual
orientation and gender identity.
