Sinn F\u00e9in\u2019s Spokesperson on Foreign Affairs, Trade and Diaspora, Se\u00e1n Crowe TD, has criticised the Russian government for introducing a so-called gay \u2018propaganda\u2019 law, which introduces hefty fines for anyone who distributes information on alleged \u201cnon-traditional sexual relationships\u201d.<\/p>\n
The new legislation has also led to the arrest and persecution of Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) people, most notably at St. Petersburg\u2019s recent Pride March. An open letter has been drawn up by Irish civil society groups calling on the Russian authorities to end its persecution of LGBT people.<\/p>\n
Speaking after signing the letter on behalf of Sinn F\u00e9in, Deputy Crowe said:<\/p>\n
\u201cI, along with other concerned Irish citizens and politicians, have signed an open letter strongly urging the Russian authorities to end its persecution of LGBT people.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt also calls on the authorities to focus on upholding the right of LGBT citizens, and their supporters, to freedom of expression, assembly, and protection from homophobic violence.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe letter will be delivered and handed over to the Russia Embassy in Dublin this evening.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Russian government has tried to justify this draconian legislation by stating that it will protect minors. This is completely misguided and based on the incorrect premise that someone\u2019s sexuality can be taught.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis legislation is extremely broad and effectively prohibits the distribution of any information which deals with LGBT rights in a positive or even neutral light.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a clear breach of a person\u2019s right to freely express their sexual orientation or gender identity, as well as the freedom to seek, receive and impart information on issues related to sexual orientation or gender identity.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis new law is incompatible with rulings made by the European Court of Human Rights, the UN Human Rights Committee and international human rights standards.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am calling on the Russian authorities to review this oppressive legislation and to uphold the human rights of all their citizens and especially those of vulnerable or minority groups, like LGBT citizens.\u201d<\/p>\n
ENDS<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sinn F\u00e9in\u2019s Spokesperson on Foreign Affairs, Trade and Diaspora, Se\u00e1n Crowe TD, has criticised the Russian government for introducing a so-called gay \u2018propaganda\u2019 law, which introduces hefty fines for anyone who distributes information on alleged \u201cnon-traditional sexual relationships\u201d. The new legislation has also led to the arrest and persecution of Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,50,58],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-812","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-foreign-affairs","category-human-rights","category-lgbt"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/seancrowe.ie\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/812","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/seancrowe.ie\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/seancrowe.ie\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/seancrowe.ie\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/seancrowe.ie\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=812"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/seancrowe.ie\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/812\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":814,"href":"http:\/\/seancrowe.ie\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/812\/revisions\/814"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/seancrowe.ie\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=812"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/seancrowe.ie\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=812"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/seancrowe.ie\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=812"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}