Gay rights activists in St. Petersburg have sent letters to governments of U.S., EU, Australia and Canada asking them to ban entry for city officials behind the controversial gay propaganda ban.

St. Petersburg’s Governor Georgy Poltavchenko on Sunday approved a law penalizing "the propaganda of homosexuality and pedophilia among minors." The law effectively outlaws any Gay Pride events.

Activists say Poltavchenko and city lawmaker Vitaly Milonov, who initiated the bill “violated the fundamental rights of LGBT people to freedom of expression, the right on which all democratic and free societies are based.”

The law, passed in the third and final reading by the city’s Legislative Assembly in late February, imposes fines of up to $16,000 on individuals and up to $160,000 on legal entities for the promotion of homosexual, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender practices among minors. It follows similar legislation in the southern Astrakhan region and the central Ryazan and Kostroma regions.

Gay rights activist Nikolai Alexeyev also filed a one million ruble (over $30,000) defamation lawsuit against Milonov.