Kostroma, Russia has followed suit with a small number of other cities, regions and nations in proposing fines that would be imposed anyone who might “promote” an LGBT lifestyle or political agenda.  The move is similar to bills attempted, shelved and rarely passed into law in some Eastern European nations.

The law would allow authorities to impose fines of up to 50,000 rubles ($1,600) for “public activities promoting homosexuality (sodomy and lesbianism), bisexualism and transgender identity” as well as pedophilia among minors. The promotion of “religious sects” would also be punishable by fines.

Some gay rights advocates in Moscow and St.

Petersburg like Igor Kochetkov of the national group “Coming Out” believe that the government is deliberately trying to divert attention away from more pressing issues regarding the economy and social ills.  Others believe that these laws could pass and severely limit the civil rights of LGBT’s in Russia.

Russians like Yelena Kostyuchenko who writes for the newspaper Novaya Gazeta, are concerned about the language of the proposed legislation, namely the association of sexual orientation with choice. It is a “biological quality”, she says, and therefore “cannot be promoted”.