Canada: Gay author receives threats from Russia over children’s story
A gay author from British Columbia known for his children’s literature, has said he has received threats from Russia, following the recent passage of anti-gay laws.
Robert Joseph Greene, author of the Blue Door, said he had been the recipient of hate mail from Russia, which accused him of being a paedophile, and suggested he was trying to get their children.
“In Russia, the word for pedophile and gay is the same word,” Greene said to CTV British Columbia. “They don’t differentiate the two.”
The book in question is a children’s short story about a Russian prince who defies his father in declaring his love for a boy.
Greene, who said his book had been translated into Russian, also said his books were being seen as the an example of homosexual “propaganda”.
As well as the law banning homosexual “propaganda”, Russia also recently added a law banning the adoption of Russian children by same-sex foreign couples.
He said: “Those days should be long behind us now and for those countries and those governments and regimes who don’t see it that way I think they have to move with the times.”
