The Bill is based on myth as expounded by Russian Deputy Speaker, who said: “If a child ends up with a homosexual couple, it could cause severe damage and the child ends up with a distorted perception of reality.”
By Melanie Nathan, June 18, 2013.
As same-sex marriage is increasing in acceptance around the world, to include more recently France, The Duma, Russia’s lower house of parliament, has taken note and now unanimously backed a bill placing adoption restrictions on nations that allow same-sex marriage. The proposal seeks to ban adoption of orphans by foreign same-sex couples and by single foreign nationals from countries where same-sex marriage is legal. While the Russians see this as helping their children, those who have witnessed children of such adoptions from Russian orphanages can dispute the basis for the bill as myth, noting that many Russian children have already been placed in foreign homes of gay singles and same-sex couples and are thriving.
Many single people around the world, gay and straight have already adopted Russian orphans, giving them safe and loving homes abroad. However this may soon be restricted by such law and the only ones who will suffer will be the Russian children themselves, who often wait many years without parents in Russian orphanages.
The new Bill will become law when approved by the upper house and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Prior to The Duma’s second reading of the bill today, which passed by 443 votes to zero, Putin said that his country was considering the idea of changing its adoption agreements with the French government and other states that allow gay marriage.
The amendments to Russia’s family code say those banned from adoption would include “persons in a marriage union between people of the same sex registered in a state where such a union is allowed, as well as citizens of such states that are not married”.
The bill is expected to be confirmed in a third and final reading on June 21, then passed by the upper house and signed into law by President Putin.
Duma deputy speaker Sergei Zheleznyak:
“A child should have a mother and a father, a child in a family has an idea of what the world is about,” …. If a child ends up with a homosexual couple, it could cause severe damage and the child ends up with a distorted perception of reality.”
It seems that the deputy speaker has not really done his homework and that his rhetoric is couched in homophobia. Many same-sex couples around the world, including from the United States, as well as Gay and Lesbian singles, have already over the past years, adopted children from Russia. If the deputy did his work he may be surprised. Those children, some of whom I know personally and have watch grow up, are thriving with their loving gay/ lesbian parents and families. They have a far better life and grasp on reality than those who saw their entire childhoods through in Russian orphanages.
Clearly, to the Deputy Speaker, this is NOT about the children but rather about his own bigotry. If he were truly concerned about the children he might have done some research. But there is none, just hate and myth.
Last week, the Duma passed a law imposing heavy fines for providing information about homosexuality to people under 18.
Russia decriminalized homosexuality in 1993 and officially removed it from a list of psychiatric disorders in 1999. But homophobia ia at an all time high and has led to violent street clashes in recent weeks.
According to BBC, a recent poll found that nearly half of Russians believe that the gay and lesbian community should not enjoy the same rights as other citizens. Does that mean that more than half believe that gays should have equal rights? We will probably never know.
However given this latest quest to prevent same-sex couples and singles, whether gay or straight, from countries that allow same-sex marriage, from adopting will only serve to hurt the thousands of children in Russian orphanages waiting for parents.
Source: BBC News
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Reblogged this on JerBear's Queer News, Views & Memories and commented:
As the distorted and bigoted march of homophobia continues in Russia, unadopted children are the ones to suffer. Loving homes are denied because the politicians in Russia continue to accept the prejudices the majority in Western nations have jettisoned some time ago.
Ah, the old, “kids will become gay if raised by gay parents” inference rearing it’s head again…
How is it that these morons don’t grasp that pretty much ALL of the gay kids up to now have come from a Mom & Dad, straight household?? Are the Duma THAT dim?
No, I believe the issue is absolutely ignorant bigotry on the part of these supposed “leaders”. What they’re saying is that they refuse to let go of their own ignorance-based opinions & ideas & they are deliberately & knowingly harming children in the process.
Shame on THEM.