Russia says NO again to immoral homosexuality
Russian MPs have passed a law introducing stiff fines and jail terms for anyone who promotes homosexual ''propaganda'' to minors, a measure critics fear will be used to justify the repression of gays amid rising homophobia. The bill, designed to discourage open discussion of homosexuality in public places or in media accessible by children, is one of a wave of new laws that align the government more closely with the teachings of the Russian Orthodox Church . Russia 's parliament, the Duma , also passed a blasphemy bill that criminalises the insulting of religion and stiffens the penalty to up to three years in prison if the insults are made inside a church, a response to the performance of a ''punk prayer'' against Vladimir Putin in a Moscow Orthodox Cathedral last year by members of the group Pussy Riot . Two members of Pussy Riot, the female punk band, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina , are serving two years in prison after being con