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Thursday 16 January 2014

Is Russia about to pass another anti-gay law?

Russian gay parents fear losing children (CNN) - I'm sitting in a tiny Russian apartment, like so many others I've visited, talking to two parents who sound just like any other happy couple.


They tell me about the first time they met: "We were madly drawn to each other. And I couldn't even imagine we wouldn't be together." They describe their hopes for the future: "As soon as we're on our feet financially, then we plan to have a second child."

But this is not like most other families. Both parents are women who were both previously married to men.

Their daughter is in another room playing a computer game. The women don't want her to hear the rest of our conversation. She's too young to understand her parents' fears or why they live in secrecy and have asked us not to publish their names.

What's it like to live as a gay family in Russia today? "To be silent. That's it," one of the women replies.

"To hide. Not to show, to give basis for rumors in the office. To be respected at work you have to keep silent," her partner adds.

It's always been tough to live as a gay person in this country. During the Soviet era gay sex was a crime and the majority of Russians remain deeply conservative on gay issues. It's become even harder since parliament passed what's known as the gay propaganda law in June of last year. The legislation makes it illegal to tell children about gay equality.

READ MORE: What one gay performer thinks of Russia's law

The law has been widely criticized by Western leaders who have called it archaic and discriminatory. Human rights activists say it proves Russia is unworthy of hosting the 2014 Winter Olympics, which get under way in Sochi in early February. But that hasn't stopped the political campaign for another law that would repress gay rights even further.

In 2013 lawmaker Alexei Zhuravlyov proposed a new law that would strip gay people with children of their parenting rights. The bill triggered fears the government was about to start taking children from their parents, but stalled in Russia's parliament.
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