Russian President Vladmir Putin has ordered that a ban be placed on foreign adoptions to homosexuals, reports state.
Concerns began to emerge in the country last month when the nation of France approved of both homosexual “marriage” and adoption. While Russia already bans same-sex unions, and therefore, no children may be adopted in the country by homosexuals, officials became worried that homosexuals in foreign nations like France may wish to adopt.
Recently, children’s rights ombudsman Pavel Astakhov vowed to ensure that Russian orphans would only be adopted by a mother and father. Nadezhder Khramova of the All Russian Parents’ Assembly remarked that the nation should ban all foreign adoptions.
“[I]t is technically difficult to verify the adoptive parents’ sexual orientation and their legal status can be a marriage of convenience,” Khramova stated.
It is already illegal for Russian children to be adopted by Americans. As previously reported, Putin signed the prohibition into law last December, closing off the country to Americans who seek to adopt orphaned boys and girls in the nation. The ban, which officially went into affect on January 1st, is believed to serve as retaliation for America’s Magnitsky Act, which prohibits Russians accused of human rights violations from obtaining Visas. However, legislators in Russia state that the ban was necessary because 19 of the 60,000 children that have been adopted by Americans have died over the past two decades.
Weeks later, approximately 10,000 Russians took to the streets to oppose the ban.
“Without adoption, such children have no chance,” Dmitry Belkov, protest organiser, told reporters. “This law is a worse thing to do to these children than the treatment animals get in other countries.”
“For the Americans it’s not such a big deal; they can go on adopting other children around the world. But for our children there is no hope,” added protester Maria Volodko. “Our country always takes revenge against the weakest ones, makes their lives even more miserable.”
However, Russia is particularly firm against homosexual behavior. Last August, Moscow’s highest court upheld the city’s ban on homosexual pride parades for the next 100 years.
According to reports, public polls from 2010 indicated that 38% of Russians believed that homosexuality is a “bad habit” and 36% said it was “a sickness or result of a psychological trauma.” However, 41% stated that they did not believe laws should be passed that “discriminate” against homosexuals.
Reaction to Putin’s latest order has been mixed.
“I don’t like communists, but he is right on this one,” one commenter wrote.
“I challenge anyone on here to cite a single scientific study that shows that gay adoption has any negative effects compared to straight adoption,” stated another. “And no, the Bible doesn’t count, because we don’t live in a theocracy. Go to Saudi Arabia if that’s what you want.”
“I’m homosexual myself and would not trust homosexuals with children,” wrote a third commenter. “Putin for president 2016.”
“This is best for the children. They must be kept safe even if it hurts some feelings,” remarked yet another concerned reader. “Putin is smart.”
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