“We passed a law banning the propaganda of homosexuality among minors,” Russian President mocks US Embassy for flying Rainbow flag
On Friday, the U.S. embassy in Moscow got mocked by President Vladimir Putin for flying a rainbow flag to celebrate LGBT rights, suggesting it reflected the sexual orientation of its staff.
Putin’s comments followed a nationwide vote on constitutional reforms that included an amendment preserving the connotation of a marriage-like custom specifically as a union between a man and a woman.
Putin directed his comments pointing out that the U.S. embassy’s move of raising the LGBT pride flag “revealed something about the people that work there”.
Putin, who has always been seeking to distance Russia from liberal Western values and aligned himself with the Russian Orthodox Church said, “It’s no big deal though. We have spoken about this many times, and our position is clear.”
“Yes, we passed a law banning the propaganda of homosexuality among minors. So what? Let people grow up, become adults, and then decide their own destinies,” he added making a biased statement.
The legislation has always been active in terminating gay pride marches and detains gay rights activists.
Putin also mentioned during the campaign to change the constitution that he would not let the traditional notion of a mother and father be undermined by what he called “parent number 1” and “parent number 2”.
As per reports of RIA news agency, Ekaterina Lakhova, the head of the Women’s Union of Russia told Putin on Friday that her fears arouse with ice cream with the brand name ‘Rainbow’, as well as other its multi-colored advertising that could constitute propaganda for non-traditional values and have a harmful effect on children.
“Even indirectly, such things make our children accustomed to that … flag, the one that was hung up by the embassy,” cited Lakhova.
She further added, “It would be very good to have a commission to make sure that those values that we enshrined in our constitution are upheld.”
Britain among other countries has also flown rainbow flags outside their embassies in Moscow.