Stricter Anti-LGBTQ+ "Propaganda" Bill Heads to Putin's Desk

Russian lawmakers in the government's upper house chamber unanimously passed a bill furthering restrictions on LGBTQ+ rights in the country.

Under the new proposal that was passed by the lower house last week, the bill expands on the 2013 ban against spreading "propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations" to minors. The new bill extends the ban to adults, too.

It's the latest in the Russian government's efforts to suppress the country's battered LGBTQ+ community.

The bill will now go to President Vladimir Putin who is expected to sign the legislation into law.

The new legislation does away with all advertising, media and online resource books, films, and theater productions that are deemed to contain such "LGBT" propaganda, the Associated Press reports.

The bill also bans information on gender transitions from being shared with minors.

Fines for violating the law range from 100,000 to 2 million Russian rubles -- the equivalent of $1,660 to $33,000.

Violators not from Russia could be expelled for breaking the law.

The 2013 law has been used as a tool to crack down on LGBTQ rights, groups, and activists.

The new measure does not make violations a criminal offense, according to the AP.

A separate bill would have to pass to do that. Some Russian lawmakers have voiced support for such a bill.

Russia unambiguously outlawed same-sex marriages in 2020 by adopting amendments to the country's Constitution that, among other things, stipulated that the "institution of marriage is a union between a man and a woman."