It appears that the contentious Russian prohibition on so-called “homosexual propaganda” will be extended to all adults.
The measure signals a toughening of a 2013 law that makes it illegal to provide minors with information about LGBT identities.
Those guilty of advocating what Russia considers “non-traditional sexual relations” suffer hefty fines.
Initial ratification of the extension was approved unanimously by the Russian State Duma.
Officials had lobbied members of Russia’s lower house of parliament to adopt the extension earlier this week, casting it as part of a larger war with the West over civilizational norms and tying it to the decision to invade Ukraine.
According to the plan, information about “non-traditional lifestyles” or “the rejection of family values” would be considered legally equivalent to pornography, the promotion of violence, and the instigation of racial, ethnic, and religious tensions.
It also prohibits “pedophilia promotion,” which the Russian authorities frequently conflate with homosexuality.
The extensions also restrict anything that could “cause minors to desire to change their sex,” a reference to transgender individuals.
If approved, the rule would permit the blocking of LGBT-related information on the internet and the prohibition of films deemed to include favorable representations of homosexuality.
Human rights activists and LGBT organizations assert that the extension effectively criminalizes any act or public reference to same-sex couples.
The extensive prohibition also encompasses advertising and publications – both nonfiction and fiction – sparking censorship fears among publishers, who have warned that it may even harm Russian literary masterpieces.
Non-Russians who break the restriction face fines ranging from 50,000 to 400,000 roubles (£705 to $815) as well as expulsion from the country.
The law has overwhelming support, but it must first be passed by the Federation Council, the upper chamber of the Russian parliament, before being ratified by President Vladimir Putin.
On Monday, a prominent supporter of the measure told Duma lawmakers that the information about LGBT individuals being shared with Russians was part of a “hybrid war” being launched by the West against Russia.
Alexander Khinshtein, chairman of the information committee of the parliament, stated that Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine as part of the invasion were there to safeguard traditional Christian values.
However, he reserved some of his most scathing condemnation of the West for attacks on South Park and Peppa Pig.
He showed his coworkers pictures of the television programs he said were part of a “war against our civilization,” singling out the Peppa Pig episode in which Penny the Polar Bear appears with two mothers as an especially egregious example of this alleged indoctrination.
Khinshtein, a member of Mr. Putin’s United Russia Party, told the Duma that the “special operation” in Ukraine is occurring “not only on the battlefield but also in the minds and souls of the people.”
His rhetoric mirrors that of the Russian president, who has made homophobia a pillar of his domestic agenda and autocratic control.
In a speech last month annexing four Ukrainian areas, Mr. Putin railed against “parent number one and parent number two” households, which has been read as a critique of same-sex families.
Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, has also supported the new legislation. He depicted Russia’s war in Ukraine as a conflict between those who favor pro-Western gay pride parades and those who oppose them.
