Vladimir Putin: gay people are not discriminated against in Russia

[Douglas Carpenter]

Russian president seeks to allay fears ahead of 2014 Winter Olympics but officials say new anti-gay law will still be enforced


Vladimir Putin: 'I assure you that I work with these people, I sometimes award them with state prizes for their achievements.' Photograph: Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP

The president insisted that gay people were not discriminated against in his country.

"I assure you that I work with these people, I sometimes award them with state prizes or decorations for their achievements in various fields," Putin said in an interview with Associated Press and Russia's state Channel 1 television. "We have absolutely normal relations and I don't see anything out of the ordinary here."

He added that Russians loved Tchaikovsky even though the composer was said to have been homosexual. "Truth be told, we don't love him because of that, but he was a great musician and we all love his music," Putin said.

Putin offered to meet members of the gay and lesbian community if they asked to see him.

The law on "propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations," which Putin signed in July, makes it illegal to expose minors to information that portrays homosexual relationships as normal or attractive. The law imposes hefty fines, while also subjecting foreign citizens to up to 15 days in prison.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/04/vladimir-putin-gays-russia-discrimination?CMP=EMCNEWEML6619I2&et_cid=47665&et_rid=7444001&Linkid=http%3a%2f%2fwww.theguardian.com%2fworld%2f2013%2fsep%2f04%2fvladimir-putin-gays-russia-discrimination

[sakabatou]

1. BS!

[Skittles]

2. he is expressing the size of his whopper

the lie I mean

tip for Putin: if you want to try to make people believe you are chummy with teh gays, don't refer to them as "THESE PEOPLE"

[davidpdx]

4. Maybe he's making up for his deficiencies

[davidpdx]

3. Anyone that believes anything coming out of Putin's mouth is a chump

[LuvNewcastle]

5. There's no way they could be bigots if they love Tchaikovsky.

[gtar100]

6. Yet another WTF moment.

I hope this is the beginning of the end of discrimination towards the LGBT community in Russia. Putin has his head on backwards and it's absolutely obvious. The good thing is that the mistreatment is now out in the open and has public attention. Better than it happening in the shadows and nobody saying anything about it. That's about as hopeful as I can be considering the draconian law they just put in place.

[Behind the Aegis]

7. LOL! Yeah, I bet some of his best friends are gay too!

What a fucking shit stain!

"these people"

[joshcryer]

8. They justify it because the anti-libel law they passed.

RT even hinted to it in their nasty screed against gays in Russia. Basically, if you're gay, you're gay. And if you're not, the anti-libel law will protect you from being called gay.

But just don't be openly gay, OK?

If anything the anti-libel law will be used more to persecute gays because those against gays can find out their orientation, use it against them as a bullying tactic, and the gays in question will have no recourse, lest they deny their own orientation.