Vladimir Putin vows Russia will never have same-sex marriage for as long as he’s president in furious rant
Russian President Vladimir Putin (Photo by Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images)
Russian president Vladimir Putin has vowed to never permit same-sex parenting or marriage in an anti-LGBT+ rant.
Speaking at a commission discussing reforms to Russia’s constitution on Thursday, Putin vowed to keep gender-specific language to underline the country’s opposition to same-sex relationships.
Vladimir Putin: ‘No same-sex parents as long as I’m president.’
He said: “As far as ‘parent number 1’ and ‘parent number 2’ goes, I’ve already spoken publicly about this and I’ll repeat it again: As long as I’m president this will not happen.
“There will be dad and mum.”
The leader also signalled his support for a constitutional change to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman.
He said: “We need only to think in what phrases and where to do this.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 6, 2020 in Moscow, Russia. (Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images)
Putin has maintained a grip on power in Russia for 20 years – holding the alternating offices of prime minister and president since 2000.
His latest term as president is set to end in 2024, but the leader recently made reforms that opponents fear will see him stay in power for life.
Leader has overseen an anti-LGBT+ crackdown in Russia.
With the support of the country’s anti-LGBT+ Orthodox Church, the leader imposed a law outlawing “propaganda of non-traditional sexual relationships” among minors in 2013.
Human rights monitors say the law, which also bans people sharing “distorted ideas about the equal social value of traditional and non-traditional sexual relationships”, has been used to clamp down on the freedom of expression of LGBT+ people, and fuelled a rise in homophobic rhetoric in the country.
In 2017, the European Court of Human Rights found that the law is discriminatory. The judges wrote: “By adopting such laws, the authorities reinforced stigma and prejudice and encouraged homophobia, which was incompatible with the values of a democratic society.”
The same court also found Russia to be violating the human rights of LGBT+ people over a ban on Pride events in 2018, and over actions to block the registration of LGBT+ groups in 2019.
In his memoir published last year, former British prime minister David Cameron recalled an icy exchange with Putin on LGBT+ rights, in which the Russian leader cited the country’s birth rates as a factor in his decision to target gay people.
Cameron wrote: “[Putin] said that Russia’s problem was a declining population, and he needed men to marry women and have lots of children.”
