Remember when the International Olympic Committee reassured nervous tourists and athletes that Russia would not be arresting attendees for being gay during the 2014 Winter Olympic Games? Vitaly Milonov, the Russian lawmaker who penned the country’s first “gay propaganda” law in St. Petersburg, which led to the federal ban, now says that’s not the case. Here’s Milonov, in an interview with Interfax:
I haven’t heard any comments from the government of the Russian Federation, but I know that it is acting in accordance with Russian law. And if a law has been approved by the federal legislature and signed by the president, then the government has no right to suspend it. It doesn’t have the authority.
Meaning–according to this one vocally anti-gay politician–it’s still “go to Russia, go to jail” if you happen to be gay. I’ll let Marina take it from here.
(Photo: NBC)
