Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko signed a new law on Wednesday, which introduces fines for promoting homosexual relationships, gender reassignment, pedophilia and childlessness. This legislation, inspired by similar laws in Russia, is officially presented as a tool to protect traditional values, family and children from influences from Western countries. TASR informs about it based on the reports of the agencies DPA and AFP.
- Belarus introduces fines for promoting homosexuality, childlessness, pedophilia and gender reassignment.
- The new law allows for fines, community service and short-term imprisonment.
- The legislation places the defense of human rights on the level of offenses and persecution.
- It combines LGBTQ+ themes and childlessness with pedophilia, thereby deepening social stigmatization.
- The vague regulation can be misused by the authorities to raid clubs and community centers.
For violation of regulations face high fines, community service or imprisonment for a maximum of 15 days. The law signed by Lukashenko adds new articles to the Belarusian Code of Administrative Offenses and modifies dozens of existing norms. Parliament approved it on April 2.
Eleven independent UN human rights experts said in a statement released Wednesday that this law represents a dangerous escalation and puts the legitimate defense of human rights on the same level as crimes, thereby legitimizing the persecution of already marginalized social groups and defenders of their rights.
In their statement, the experts, who have a mandate from the UN Human Rights Council but do not speak on behalf of the United Nations, emphasize that the legislation manipulatively links LGBTQ+ topics and childlessness with pedophilia, thereby trying to stigmatize them in the eyes of the public.
According to them, the law could too disproportionately affect women and their rights to sexual and reproductive health. It also raises concerns about transgender people’s access to medication.
In the statement, the experts also expressed concern about the fact that the law introduces responsibility for “illegal representation” of Belarus at international events, which could potentially be misused to justify attacks on activists and human rights defenders working with the UN.
Activists warn that vague wording in the law will enable security forces to pursue and raid private clubs and community centers even more intensively. Lukashenko, who has ruled the country authoritatively since 1994, has been attacking the LGBTQ+ community for a long time. In 2012, he declared that “it is better to be a dictator than to be gay”.
