Russia's foreign minister defends anti-gay bill

MOSCOW (AP) ? Russian foreign minister has defended a bill that's now pending in the Russian parliament and, if adopted, will target the gay community.

Russia's lower house of parliament on Jan. 25 voted to support a bill that makes public events and dissemination of information about the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community to minors punishable by fines of up to $16,000. The bill still requires the parliament's and the president's final approval.

Sergey Lavrov said Tuesday that Russia "has no international obligations to allow propaganda of homosexuality."

Lavrov insisted that since homosexuality was decriminalized in the early 1990s, gays have enjoyed full rights in Russia. But he said that Russia "has its own moral, religious and historical values."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-02-26-Russia-Gay%20Rights/id-2bfc67a8829247b39a7e0eb6a065c9d2

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