Ukraine’s parliament yesterday took a first step to making the promotion of homosexuality a criminal offence punishable by prison despite appeals from rights groups.
The draft law, which passed the first of two readings, does not clearly define what it means by the “promotion of homosexuality” but says it is a threat to national security.
“Certain media outlets, going against the interests of society and the state, are promoting a tolerant attitude towards things like sexual relations between people of the same sex,” the authors said. If the law is enacted Ukraine’s criminal code would be amended to punish anyone convicted of importing, producing or spreading “works that promote homosexuality” with jail terms of up to five years. – (Reuters)