A bill that would revoke the parental rights of gay and lesbian Russians is still alive and likely to be considered in parliament after the world turns its eyes away from Russia when the Olympic Games conclude next month, reports CNN.
Back in October of last year, a Russian lawmaker proposed a bill that would forcibly remove children from the homes of their gay or lesbian parents.
The legislation, as first introduced, deemed "nontraditional sexual orientation" tantamount to child abuse, and equated gay and lesbian parents with alcoholics, drug users, and those who physically abuse their children. After international outcry, the bill was quietly removed from Russia's parliament, known as the State Duma, on October 20.
But the extremist member of parliament who introduced the bill promised last year that he would reintroduce it after some modifications, and according to CNN, that's exactly what he plans to do.
Alexi Zhuravlyov told CNN that the newly amended bill wouldn't take children away from all gay or lesbian parents in Russia -- just from those parents who left a heterosexual relationship to be with someone of the same sex.
"A mother and a father -- that is normal for us," Zhuravlyov said, according to CNN's translation. "We think on this, Russia is on the right path compared to the West."
Watch CNN's report, including an interview with a family who would be affected by the proposed law, below.