Russian Gays Celebrate Rejection by Duma of Restrictive Bill
17/11/2005
Submitted by
Nikolay Alekseev, Human Rights LGBT Project GayRussia.ru
MOSCOW, November 3, 2005 – Russian gays are celebrating today after a proposed legislation that would limit the right to freedom of public events was emphatically rejected by the Duma last evening in its ‘first reading’.
Support for the bill came from just 94 of the 450-member Dumas, Russia’s lower house. This was 130 votes short of the 226 needed for the bill to go forward for a second reading.
“Rejection of the bill in the first reading means full disagreement of the deputies with its concept,” said Nikolai Alekseev, head of the Project GayRussia.Ru. “If the only problem was new wording or corrections of some articles of the bill then it could easily go to the second reading.
“The voting in Duma yesterday once again confirmed that the deputies are protecting Russian Constitution and its laws which guarantee the right of peaceful, without weapons, demonstrations, meetings and marches to everyone,” he suggested.
According to the Constitution this right is being realised by a mere application and can not be limited even in the law.
Evgeniy Balashov, deputy of Moscow Duma – the local ‘parliament’, had earlier threatened that deputies has the right to pass such measures that will ban immoral demonstrations of gays and lesbians in Moscow.
“The vote on Wednesday is a clear blow for him,” said Alekseev. “It also shows that the opposition to Moscow Gay Pride, did not happen in reality.”
The author of the bill, deputy from the nationalistic “Rodina” party, Alexander Chuev, known for his anti-homosexual schemes, proposed to punish the organisers of “immoral” public events (actions, exhibitions, shows, happenings etc.) with the fine of 2000-2500 roubles (approximately £40-50) for private individuals and 20,000-30,000 roubles (£400-500) for companies.
The bill also introduced an additional punishment in the way of confiscation of advertisement materials and equipment used for the organisation and conduct of the event.
Before the bill ever got to the lower house of Duma, the house’s committee on constitutional legislation had recommended rejection of Chuev’s bill.
Committee deputy chairman Alexander Moskalets also pointed out that there was no definition of “public morality” in the law, and so there are no criteria to measure whether a public event could be classified as insulting this morality.
Before today’s Duma vote, Chuev, the main campaigner for public morality in Russia, said that many events fall into the definition of “public events, insulting public morality”. He gave an example of a nudists parade in summer in the Red Square or an exhibition of sexual organs.
“It is quite interesting but deputy Chuev was not courageous enough to mention marches of gays and lesbians which were the main target and which would be banned if the bill was passed by parliament,” said Alekseev.
“After the official ban by the authorities to conduct a march against gay pride in Moscow in the southern Russian city of Krasnodar, the rejection by the Duma of the bill to ban immoral public events became a new blow for the opponents of the gay pride march in the Russian capital.
“If such populist bans are no longer supported by Russian parliamentarians it means that Russia moved ahead on the road of tolerance and respect for the rights and freedoms of its citizens,” Alekseev pointed out.
Support for the bill came from just 94 of the 450-member Dumas, Russia’s lower house. This was 130 votes short of the 226 needed for the bill to go forward for a second reading.
“Rejection of the bill in the first reading means full disagreement of the deputies with its concept,” said Nikolai Alekseev, head of the Project GayRussia.Ru. “If the only problem was new wording or corrections of some articles of the bill then it could easily go to the second reading.
“The voting in Duma yesterday once again confirmed that the deputies are protecting Russian Constitution and its laws which guarantee the right of peaceful, without weapons, demonstrations, meetings and marches to everyone,” he suggested.
According to the Constitution this right is being realised by a mere application and can not be limited even in the law.
Evgeniy Balashov, deputy of Moscow Duma – the local ‘parliament’, had earlier threatened that deputies has the right to pass such measures that will ban immoral demonstrations of gays and lesbians in Moscow.
“The vote on Wednesday is a clear blow for him,” said Alekseev. “It also shows that the opposition to Moscow Gay Pride, did not happen in reality.”
The author of the bill, deputy from the nationalistic “Rodina” party, Alexander Chuev, known for his anti-homosexual schemes, proposed to punish the organisers of “immoral” public events (actions, exhibitions, shows, happenings etc.) with the fine of 2000-2500 roubles (approximately £40-50) for private individuals and 20,000-30,000 roubles (£400-500) for companies.
The bill also introduced an additional punishment in the way of confiscation of advertisement materials and equipment used for the organisation and conduct of the event.
Before the bill ever got to the lower house of Duma, the house’s committee on constitutional legislation had recommended rejection of Chuev’s bill.
Committee deputy chairman Alexander Moskalets also pointed out that there was no definition of “public morality” in the law, and so there are no criteria to measure whether a public event could be classified as insulting this morality.
Before today’s Duma vote, Chuev, the main campaigner for public morality in Russia, said that many events fall into the definition of “public events, insulting public morality”. He gave an example of a nudists parade in summer in the Red Square or an exhibition of sexual organs.
“It is quite interesting but deputy Chuev was not courageous enough to mention marches of gays and lesbians which were the main target and which would be banned if the bill was passed by parliament,” said Alekseev.
“After the official ban by the authorities to conduct a march against gay pride in Moscow in the southern Russian city of Krasnodar, the rejection by the Duma of the bill to ban immoral public events became a new blow for the opponents of the gay pride march in the Russian capital.
“If such populist bans are no longer supported by Russian parliamentarians it means that Russia moved ahead on the road of tolerance and respect for the rights and freedoms of its citizens,” Alekseev pointed out.
