Support The Moscow Times!

Russian Police Investigate Children’s Art Exhibit for 'Gay Propaganda'

Pixabay

Russian police have reportedly seized over a dozen children’s drawings from a school art exhibition to investigate possible violations of the country’s ban on gay propaganda after parents complained that they depicted same-sex couples.

Russia outlawed “homosexual propaganda” among minors in 2013, a move that allowed courts to ban gay pride events and was followed by a surge in anti-LGBT sentiment in polls.

Earlier this month, schoolchildren in Russia’s fourth-largest city of Yekaterinburg submitted drawings for an art contest marking the UN’s international day of tolerance, education officials said.

Yekaterinburg police said they had seized 17 drawings from the competition to investigate complaints that they contain gay propaganda, Interfax reported Thursday.

Yekaterinburg-based news website Ura.ru had claimed Thursday that the the fifth- to 11th-graders had portrayed gay couples in their drawings. One drawing attracted attention for depicting the silhouettes of a female couple, a male couple and a mixed couple.

“Around 10 other posters hang next to this picture showing a rainbow (a symbol of the sexual minority movement), planets and people of different nationalities,” the outlet wrote. “Another work contains the motto ‘We’re for peace! We’re for tolerance!’”

The inspection was initiated following an outcry among the students’ parents, Sverdlovsk regional police spokesman Valery Gorelykh told the RBC news website on Friday.

“We’re now checking if this event was really dedicated to the day of tolerance,” he said.

“Someone saw propaganda of sexual minorities in [the paintings], which of course wasn’t there,” an unnamed regional education department spokesperson was quoted by RBC as saying.

… we have a small favor to ask.

As you may have heard, The Moscow Times, an independent news source for over 30 years, has been unjustly branded as a "foreign agent" by the Russian government. This blatant attempt to silence our voice is a direct assault on the integrity of journalism and the values we hold dear.

We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. Our commitment to providing accurate and unbiased reporting on Russia remains unshaken. But we need your help to continue our critical mission.

Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just 2. It's quick to set up, and you can be confident that you're making a significant impact every month by supporting open, independent journalism. Thank you.

Continue

Read more