Russian Senator: Lawmaker behind anti-gay law should face criminal charges
A Russian Senator has called for one of the country’s most notoriously homophobic politicians to face criminal charges for his extremism.
Vitaly Milonov, the politician who instigated the country’s so called ‘gay propaganda’ law, has repeatedly faced allegations that he is involved in violent anti-gay groups.
According to RT, Senator Konstantin Dobryni has called for Milonov to face a probe and potential criminal charges, citing his extremist views.
In addition to his anti-gay activism, Milonov has repeatedly made racist comments about Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars, describing them as “pigs” and “fascist Turkish mugs”.
According to Mr Dobryni, Milonov would qualify for up to 11 separate criminal charges – with a potential jail sentence of up to 20 years.
Milonov dismissed the comments, telling RSN radio: “For him, everything in Orthodox Christianity is extremism.
“I don’t want to notice this man.
“I cannot take this seriously. I have issued a personal spiritual ban for this man. He has probably written more reports on me than Judas had on Christ.”
Milonov is currently bringing forward legislation that would close a ‘loophole’ in the country’s laws which allowed a lesbian couple to marry.
Same-sex marriage remains banned in Russia, but the registrars found themselves with an unexpected legal dilemma – as Ms Shumilova is transsexual, she is legally treated as male.
The registrars had to either recognise her gender in order to halt the marriage, or allow it to go ahead – and opted to do the latter.
