"A 22-year-old Russian man has been fined under the country's LGBT Propaganda law for posting a photo on social media showing members of the rock band Queen dressed in drag. David Gevondyan lost his appeal to the Moscow City Court, which declared the photograph a still from the music video for the song I Want to Break Free showed a positive assessment of the rationale for non-traditional sexual relations, characterized as natural. The court ruled his actions distort the concept of a heterosexual relationship and are akin to destroying family values."
"Under Russian law, so-called LGBTQ+ propaganda has been banned in the presence of minors since 2013. In late 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed legislation expanding the 2013 law to effectively outlaw any public expression of LGBTQ+ life in the country. And in 2023, Russia's Supreme Court declared the international LGBT social movement an extremist organization."
"Public approval and the promotion of the attractiveness of non-traditional sexual relations is dangerous not only for children and young people who are not yet capable of critical thinking, but also for society as a whole, the ruling stated, as it poses a threat to the country's demographic growth and economic development. The court also slammed Gevondyan for having previously posted photos of men in skirts and two men kissing. Gevondyan has been fined for three administrative offenses. He has also been charged with a fourth, displaying extremist symbols, after displaying a Ukrainian Insurgent Army flag."
David Gevondyan, 22, was fined after posting an Instagram photo showing the rock band Queen dressed in drag. The Moscow City Court judged the photograph—a still from the music video I Want to Break Free—to convey a positive assessment of non-traditional sexual relations and to distort the concept of a heterosexual relationship. The court linked the image to destroying family values. Russian law has banned so-called LGBTQ+ propaganda in the presence of minors since 2013, was expanded in 2022 to bar public expression of LGBTQ+ life, and saw the Supreme Court label the international LGBT movement extremist in 2023. Gevondyan faces multiple fines and an extremism charge.
Read at www.lgbtqnation.com
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