www.nytimes.com/2022/11/04/world/europe/russia-lgbt-gays.html
Russia’s Parliament is set to pass a legislative package that would ban all “gay propaganda,” signaling an even more difficult period ahead for a stigmatized segment of society.
The laws would prohibit representation of L.G.B.T.Q. relationships in any media — streaming services, social platforms, books, music, posters, billboards and films — and, activists fear, in any public space as well.
The proposed laws are part of an intensifying effort by President Vladimir V. Putin to cast Russia as fighting a civilizational struggle against the West, which he accuses of trying to export corrosive values.
Kremlin critics see the proposals as an attempt to create an internal enemy to divert attention from battlefield setbacks and an unpopular draft of hundreds of thousands of soldiers.
It’s the equivalent of saying, ‘Look, we have this special operation. If we lose, your kids will have their gender changed, they’ll take your kids away, it’ll be the stuff of nightmares,’” said Dr. Nikolai Lunchenkov, a physician
the new laws could be used to shut down film and book festivals, prevent medical services, and more.
Violating the laws would carry stiff penalties. Any business that showed images of a family with two mothers or two fathers, for example, could be fined up to 5 million rubles, or about $81,400. (Individuals would face fines up to 400,000 rubles, about $6,500.) Movies featuring queer people could be denied distribution.
Law, Power, and Justice 
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