Russian schoolgirl cannot be punished for gay propaganda – prosecutors

© Alisa Volgina

14:22 03/02/2014

BRYANSK, February 3 (RAPSI) – The Bryansk Regional Prosecutor’s Office is investigating information according to which a ninth-grader has been charged with homosexual propaganda among minors, the office reported on Monday.

“The girl cannot be called to criminal or administrative account for the alleged incident of gay propaganda because she herself is under age,” said the office’s spokesperson, Valentina Dragina.

The media previously reported Russia’s first case of the prosecution of a child for the alleged propaganda of homosexual relations among minors in the Bryansk Region. The local Commission on Juvenile Rights and Affairs said in a statement that in November 2013 a ninth-grader in a Bryansk Region town reportedly openly professed to being gay and spread information among her peers about “the social equality of traditional and non-traditional sexual relations.”

The prosecutor’s office is investigating this information.

“An underage child cannot be called to criminal or administrative account. It is reported that the authorities have refused to open criminal proceedings over the case,” Dragina said. “We suggest that she be registered with the [local Commission on Juvenile Rights and Affairs].”

The regional education authorities have not been available for comment.

The law on “gay propaganda” first entered into force in St. Petersburg in March 2012 and stipulates fines for those who breach the law in the city. The law was sharply criticized by the LGBT community and rights activists in Russia and abroad. However, the St. Petersburg law was later developed into a federal law and passed by the State Duma on June 30, 2013.