The organizer of an online support group for Russian gay teenagers faces a fine of up to 100,000 rubles ($2,800) for “gay propaganda,” activists said on Friday.
The case against Lena Klimova was opened at the request of Vitaly Milonov, an ultraconservative regional lawmaker who has spearheaded anti-gay legislation in Russia. Milonov requested a check into the Children-404 pro-LGBT group on the Russian social networking site Vkontakte, as it inveigles teens into questioning their sexuality, he says.
The group, created by Klimova, published personal statements by Russian gay teens on their struggle for acceptance and against homophobia in the country’s conservative provinces.
“Without such groups, no kids like that would exist,” said Milonov, who has also campaigned against MTV, modern opers, foreign pop-singers, abortion and the teaching of evolution in schools.
Klimova faces administrative charges in her native Nizhny Tagil, an industrial city in the Urals, she said on her own Vkontakte page. Police charged her with violating a June law that prohibits “promotion of nontraditional sexual relations to minors,” she said, adding that the trial is expected within a month.
Author: Julia Alieva