Russia Rejects Anti-Gay Bill
365Gay.com,
June 14, 2004
By 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
Moscow—The Russian Parliament has
refused to consider a contentious bill that linked gays with pedophiles and
alcoholics. The legislation, if passed would have barred people in all three
groups from holding seats in the Duma, the Russian Parliament.
It would have required all newly elected deputies to
undergo physical and psychological examinations to make sure they were “fit
for office”.
The bill was sponsored in parliament by Alexander Volkov,
a Duma deputy from Kursk. When it came up for first reading deputies voted
overwhelmingly not to consider the legislation.
This was the second attempt to bring the bill into the
Duma, and under the rules of the Parliament, it is now dead.
Prior to the vote, a number of deputies had slammed the
legislation as unconstitutional, saying it failed to uphold the right of
citizens to be presumed innocent until proven guilty.
In April, a bill that would have made gay sex illegal was
also rejected.
Homosexuality was illegal under the old Communist regime,
but was decriminalized after the Soviet Union collapsed.
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