Russia’s ‘Gay Propaganda’ Laws Are Illegal, European Court Rules
Ruling in favor of three gay activists, the European Court of Human Rights found
that "the very purpose of the laws and the way they were formulated and applied" was "discriminatory and, over all, served no legitimate public interest." It ordered Russia to pay the men a total of 43,000 euros, or $48,000, in damages.
For example, it found, one of the men had been fined for demonstrating in front of the headquarters of the St. Petersburg city government — a public space
that is not known to be popular among children — with signs with neutral statements like "homosexuality is not a perversion." On the issue of nondiscrimination, the judges found that "differences based solely on considerations of sexual orientation" are unacceptable under the European convention.
l sexual relationships among minors" and "creating a distorted image of the social equivalence of traditional and nontraditional sexual relationships." Critics said the law’s very wording promoted insidious stereotypes
that gay people promote a "homosexual lifestyle," or even worse, prey on children. that the promoting of nontraditiona
By SEWELL CHANJUNE 20, 2017
LONDON — Russia’s prohibition of what it considers the promotion of homosexuality is discriminatory and violates freedom of expression, Europe’s top human rights court ruled on Tuesday, in a strong rejection of laws
that rights groups say have been routinely used as cover for abuse and violence.
The court also found that Russia had been unable to "provide any explanation of the mechanism" by which a minor might be enticed into a "homosexual lifestyle," "let alone science-based evidence
that one’s sexual orientation or identity was susceptible to change under external influence." The vagueness of some provisions made their potential scope unlimited, the court ruled.
