A new law proposed by Russian MP Alexei Zhuravlyov that would strip gay parents of their children on the grounds that homosexual parents cause "more harm than an orphanage" has been temporarily tabled, according to BuzzFeed:
The move came to light after LGBT rights activists noticed the bill
had been noted as “withdrawn” on the website of the State Duma, Russia's
parliament. A spokesperson for Alexei Zhuravlyov, the far right MP who
tabled the bill, later confirmed the move, but said it would be
resubmitted after some changes were made.
“It's being recalled for
revision — certain legal formulations will be clarified, and then after
some points are removed, it will be brought to the State Duma again,”
Sofia Cherepanova, Zhuravlyov's spokesperson, told RIA-Novosti, a state-run news agency. “We hope to pass the bill.”
As previously reported, the Russian Parliament was set to debate the bill in February 2014, the same month as the Sochi Olympics. However, with the broad coverage of Russia's abominable record on gay rights, some believe that Russian officials decided to sweep the legislation in question under the rug until the media feeding frenzy surrounding the persecution of LGBT people in Russia dies down.
Should the bill eventually pass, homosexuality would be added to the list of reasons why the Russian state can remove a child from his/her parent, a list that currently includes alcoholism, abandonment, and abuse.
