Let 's start with a touch of perspective . It 's not only Russia where sexual minorities suffer discrimination . In the United States , that beacon of tolerance , there 's still a huge amount of bigotry . Some U.S. states still refuse to recognize same-sex marriage . And hate crimes and violence towards LGBT individuals remain a significant problem . Russia does not have a monopoly on intolerance . However , there is a key difference . In the U.S. , officials go to great lengths to espouse tolerant views and behavior . Laws have been passed , and are enforced , protecting LGBT rights . Hate crimes are prosecuted . In Russia , that is rarely the case . That 's not just my view , it 's the opinion of Human Rights ' Watch , a New York-based rights group . In their latest report on Russia , titled License to Harm , HRW finds the Russian authorities have not only `` failed in their obligation to prevent and prosecute homophobic violence , '' but have also `` effectively legalized discrimination against LGBT people and cast them as second class citizens . '' The controversial measure the report singles out is , of course , Russia 's `` anti-gay propaganda '' legislation . The law bans `` propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations among minors '' and was , according to HRW , one of several anti-LGBT measures adopted or proposed in 2013 . In their report , HRW says the law does n't actually protect anyone , but does give homophobes a reason to believe LGBT lives matter less to the Russian government . The report goes on to document various horrific instances of violence and abuse against Russia 's LGBT community , including by radical nationalist groups luring gay men on the pretext of a fake date . It makes grim reading . During the Soviet Union , homosexuality was a crime punishable by prison and hard labor . Homosexuals were regarded as pedophiles or fascists , outside normal society . Laws explicitly banning homosexuality were lifted in 1993 , after the Soviet collapse -- though there was no amnesty for those jailed for sodomy -- but the attitude appears to have stuck . Even today , LGBT activists in Russia -- like the couple I met in St. Petersburg recently -- are regarded as outsiders , sometimes agents of the liberal West , to be distrusted . The Saint Petersburg lawmaker behind the controversial `` propaganda '' law , Vitaly Milonov , underlined this when he told me that any Russians who want a same-sex marriage should move to the West `` where they belong . '' That 's a potent connection in these times of growing tensions between Russia and the West . Linking Russia 's LGBT community with the enemy taps into old fears of corrupt outsiders polluting Russian purity , and bodes extremely badly for hopes that discrimination in Russia will be tackled .
Human Rights ' Watch 's Vitaly Milonov : It 's not only Russia where sexual minorities suffer discrimination . Some Russia states still refuse to recognize same-sex marriage . A Soviet report says U.S. has `` legalized discrimination against LGBT people '' The report goes on to document various horrific instances of violence and abuse .