Russian Lawmaker Proposes Bill to Take Children Away from Gay Parents

What was done to the Jews in Hitler's Germany did not happen all at once.  Instead there was a steady but ominous campaign of whittling away the rights of Germany's Jews and ultimately their citizenship.  After that, the stage was set for the Nazi's "Final Solution" to the "Jewish Problem."  We seem to be seeing the beginnings of a similar campaign against gays in Russia spearheaded by Vladimir Putin and reactionary lawmakers seeking to win points with extremists in the Russian Orthodox Church, a church that historically supported pogroms against Jews and supported autocrats over the rights of the populace.  With Russia's anti-gay propaganda laws now on the books and increasing violence against gays, a Russian lawmaker (shown at right) has introduced legislation that would take the next step toward eliminating gays: children could be taken from their parents if the parents are gay or lesbian.  One would think in this day and age and in a supposedly modern nation such things could not happen.  Many foolishly believed the same thing in 1930's Germany.  And behind it all are two things: religious based bigotry and opportunistic, extremist politicians.  It's a deadly combination.  Here are details from Towelroad:

Gay parents would lose custody of their children under the terms of a new bill proposed in Russia, the AP reports:

The draft bill, published on parliament’s website on Thursday, would make the “fact of nontraditional sexual orientation” a basis for denying custody. Other grounds include alcoholism, drug use, and abuse...Alexei Zhuravlev (pictured), the author of the bill, referred to the earlier law and said that homosexual “propaganda” had to be banned not only in the public space “but also in the family.”

A Russian report says that Zhuravlev's bill hopes to amend Article 69 (Termination of Parental Rights) of the Family Code with a measure that says that having gay parents can do "great harm" to a child's mind.

Said Zhuravlev: "The bill is for those whose families have broken up due to non-traditional contacts of one of the spouses, or parents who do not hide sexual relations with persons of the same sex."

Zhuravlev went on to tell the paper that if a spouse suspects her husband is a practicing homosexual, "We have a court and the Investigative Committee..."

Attorneys expressed skepticism, noting that it is difficult to prove certain relationships and the bill would be used speculatively and create many fraudulent and provocative custody lawsuits.

In the documents submitted with the bill, Zhuravlev referred to the flawed, misleading, and scientifically unsound report on gay parenting conducted by UT-Austin professor Mark Regnerus and sponsored by U.S. religious right-wing groups.

Yesterday, in an interview with the AP, Russian President Vladimir Putin denied the existence of anti-gay laws in Russia, and said athletes and activists would not be punished for expressing support for gay rights in Sochi.

Note the reliance on the bogus Regnerus "study."  The growing parallels with 1930's Germany are frightening.  As for Putin's remarks, Hitler said similar things early on in his campaign against the Jews.  The 2014 Winter Games need to be moved from Russia NOW!