MOSCOW, November 28 (Marc Bennetts, RIA Novosti) – The author of a controversial law banning “homosexual propaganda” in St. Petersburg sounded a defiant note on Wednesday after Milan suspended its sister city status with Russia’s northern capital in protest at the controversial legislation.
“There must be a lot of socialists in Milan city council,” United Russia lawmaker Vitaly Milonov told RIA Novosti. “It’s a great shame that a city like Milan would take a decision like this.”
“Of course, it’s hard for many of our European colleagues to accept our law, as many of them are members of the gay lobby,” he added.
St. Petersburg’s legislative assembly adopted the law prohibiting “public action aimed at propagandizing sodomy, lesbianism, bisexualism, and transgenderism among minors" in February this year.
“We are simply defending children,” Milonov said.
The proposal to suspend Milan’s 45-year-old sister city status with St. Petersburg until the law is repealed was proposed by the Transnational Radical Party and approved late last week. Italian media also reported that Turin and Venice could follow suit.
Critics of Milonov’s law, which has been adopted by four other regions across Russia, say it is too vague in its wording over what constitutes the promotion of a homosexual lifestyle and is open to abuse.
Russia remains an extremely conservative society and Milonov’s law has found massive grassroots support. It also has the backing of the powerful Russian Orthodox Church.
A July 2012 poll by the respected Levada Center found that 75 percent of Russians consider homosexuality to be either the product of "an illness or loose morals."
“Gay propaganda can influence children,” Milonov insisted in an exclusive interview with RIA Novosti earlier this year.
“Just look at Germany, where statistics indicate that 12 percent of the population is gay. Statistics also show that 40 percent of men in Berlin have tried homosexual sex. This cannot be explained by biology.”
