A Russian lawmaker has proposed a bill to take children away from gay parents.

Alexei Zhuravlev, the deputy of the Russian State Duma, has proposed amendments to the Family Code. And now he is trying to gain support.

Under the new bill, having a ‘non-traditional sexual orientation’ will be a basis for denying custody to gay people.

Other grounds include alcoholism, drug use, a history of violence, insanity and abuse.

Speaking to Russian magazine Slon and translated by the Straight Alliance For LGBT Equality, the politician compares gay people to ‘thieves’, ‘sinners’ and ‘corrupters’.

Zhuravlev said he was forced to bring in the bill because he had heard of a woman divorcing her powerful husband because he had a ‘non-traditional orientation.’

‘It occurred to me that since we have a law explicitly prohibiting the promotion of homosexuality among minors, the Family Code should be amended in such a way that that if a husband or a wife professes a non-traditional sexual orientation, they should be deprived of their parental rights,’ he said.

‘The purpose of this would be to restrict the influence of such a person on his or her own children.’

On Europe and the current law banning any country with equal marriage from adopting from Russia, Zhuravlev said: ‘We view Europe as Sodom and Gomorrah.

‘Europe must not tell us how to live. The Europeans can live any way they like, but they mustn’t tell us what to do.

‘If negotiations about a visa-free space mean that our streets should have gay parades marching around, I am categorically against international relations of that kind and shall speak out against them.

The lawmaker refuted ideas of a woman accusing her husband of being gay after a divorce to get the children, saying it ‘would never happen’.

‘If a person conceals their identity, then they have has no influence on anybody, but if a person goes out with a placard and talks openly about their sexual orientation and propagandizes it, then obviously that must be restricted,’ Zhuravlev added.

When asked if a single mother is discovered to be gay, and if it was necessary to take that child to live at an orphanage, the politician said he had ‘no doubts’.

‘Of course she should definitely be deprived of her rights to the child,’ he said.

‘Homosexuals must not raise children. They corrupt them. They do them much more harm than if the child were in an orphanage. I am deeply convinced of this.’

There is considered to be around 700,000 Russian children in orphanages, with several having a very poor quality of life. If street children are included, that number goes up to 3.2 million.