Obama slams debated Russia gay laws
During The Tonight Show, Obama also voiced his attitude towards the new Russian law cracking down on gay rights activism.
The US president mentioned that he has “no patience for countries that try to treat gays and lesbians and transgendered persons in ways that intimidate them or are harmful to them.”
The law ‘prohibiting propaganda of homosexuality to minors’ was enacted on June 30, when it was signed by President Putin. It has introduced fines for ‘propaganda’ of non-traditional sex relations to minors, including in the media, on the internet and via viral adverts. Under the amended law holding LGBT rallies is now prohibited as well as distribution of information aimed at forming non-traditional sexual concepts in children, describing such ties as attractive.
Supporters of the law insist it’s not about punishing people for being homosexual, as was notoriously the case in the USSR, but to keep young people from being dragged into same-sex relationships. Critics argue that young people don’t become gay merely from hearing or reading about homosexuality. Many complain that the law does not specify which exact activities constitute ‘propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations’, leaving the loose legal interpretation open to abuse.