As Russian president Vladimir Putin steers Russia toward becoming a closed-off, conservative society, ruled by “traditional values” and bound tightly to the Orthodox Church, with visions of a “Russian world” in opposition to the decadent, amoral West, the Russian parliament has expanded Moscow’s official discrimination against gays and others of non-heterosexual orientations.
The idea of Russia as a defender of traditional Christian beliefs has been used to justify Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. And it has driven the Russian Parliament to tighten restrictions on LGBT+ “propaganda”.
