( 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 could n't even imagine we would n'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 do n'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 has n'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 . Zhuravlyov is now pushing for a slightly watered down version that would deny custody to any parent who leaves a straight relationship to be gay . He says : `` In case any parent openly propagates homosexuality and only in this case , if the family splits , a child should exclusively stay with a parent who has heterosexual way of life . '' Zhuravlyov dismisses Western liberalism and says traditional Russian values dictate a child should have a father and a mother . `` We think on this , Russia is on the right path compared to the west , '' he says . `` If you in the west are so tolerant , let Russia live with its established traditions . Be tolerant to us . '' Activists say such a law would be another backward step and fear its implementation could gather momentum after the Sochi games when the world 's focus has shifted away from Russia . Tanya Lokshina from Human Rights Watch says the existing gay propaganda law already has the potential to criminalize gay parents . `` If you 're gay and together with your partner ... you tell your child that your family is just the same , no worse and no better than another family next door , a heterosexual family , than you 'll be violating the law , '' Lokshina says . Back in the tiny apartment , two parents who love their daughter -- and who describe themselves as patriots and Orthodox Christians -- say they struggle to imagine a day when the government could take their child from them . `` I do n't understand how it can be , '' one says . `` I hope it wo n't happen . Otherwise we 'll have to migrate and many people will make that decision to leave Russia . '' These parents feel increasingly pushed into the shadows of Russian society , but the couple says they and other gay parents they know are still raising their children with the goal of making their country a better place . `` As a rule , children in gay families are surrounded by care , attention and respect , '' one of the women tells me . `` I do n't know what kind of people they 'll be in the future , but they 're the children in who the most is being invested . ''
Russia 's `` gay propaganda '' law is forcing gay community into shadows . Western leaders have criticized the law as archaic and discriminatory . One Russian lawmaker has proposed a new law that would strip gays of parenting rights . Proponents of gay rights fear the proposed law will break apart families .