Russian deputies voted at first reading on Thursday to toughen the controversial law repressing "LGBT propaganda", a new sign of the strengthening of the conservative line in the country and presented as an extension of the fight against Westerners in full offensive in Ukraine.

Repressive laws have multiplied in Russia since Vladimir Putin came to power. But in recent years, in a context of opposition to Westerners that has become frontal since the conflict in Ukraine, the defense of conservative values ​​has become the workhorse of the master of the Kremlin, who constantly denounces "decadence", even the "satanism" of its adversaries.

"During the plenary session, the deputies of the State Duma unanimously adopted the first reading of the amendments to the legislation prohibiting the promotion of non-traditional sexual relations," the parliament said on its website.

For the President of the Board of Directors of the "Russian LGBT Network", Natalia Soloviova, this law will "create a situation in which no one will be able to speak openly or positively about LGBT people", she lamented.

Reached by AFP by telephone, she assures us that this law will also "allow and encourage discrimination" of these people and could "increase hate crimes".

But above all, it's a leap into the “unknown” for the LGBT community in Russia: “Are they really going to use this new law? Or is it just communication?” she asks.

Two readings are still planned, before the upper house of Parliament, the Council of the Federation, studies it and it can be submitted for signature to President Vladimir Putin, which generally constitutes a simple formality.

The 2013 law punishing “LGBT propaganda” among minors, much criticized, is thus reinforced by a ban on the “denial of family values” and the “promotion of non-traditional sexual orientations” among adults as well.

These prohibitions concern "the media, the internet, literature and cinema" or even advertising. “Films promoting non-traditional sex will not receive a distribution certificate,” the Duma warned.

The text also prohibits "information likely to induce the desire to change sex" for children.

These offenses will be punished with heavy fines and foreigners violating this law may be expelled, according to the Duma.

"Civilizational Confrontation"

In the context of the conflict in Ukraine, where Moscow is suffering setbacks, senior Russian parliamentary officials have presented the toughening of this law as an act of defense in an ideological war against Westerners.

"We must protect our citizens and Russia from degradation and extinction, from the darkness spread by the United States and European states," Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said in the statement.

“The fight is not only taking place on the battlefield, but also in the economic sphere, in the information space. There is a serious battle for the hearts and minds of young people,” added MP Piotr Tolstoy on Telegram.

According to him, “LBGT propaganda has become a weapon” against Russian “foundations, values ​​and traditions”, “a silent and cold-blooded killer who destroys souls”.

"War is on all fronts," added Communist MP Nina Ostanina.

One of the authors of the text of the law, Alexandre Khinchteïn, put forward the “civilizational confrontation with the West”. "If we don't protect our borders, it will become a threat," he wrote on Telegram.

"The special military operation (in Ukraine) is not only taking place on the battlefields, but also in people's consciousness, in their minds, in their souls," he added.

These declarations take up the elements of language used by President Vladimir Putin, who notably accused Westerners during a recent speech of “pure and hard Satanism”.

“Do we want our schools to impose on children, starting in elementary school, perversions that lead to degradation and extinction? Do we want to teach them that in addition to women and men, there are “genders”? Suggest a sex change operation to them?”, he had launched in the Kremlin in front of the Russian political elite at the end of September.

The main Russian NGO for the defense of sexual minorities, LGBT-Set, for its part denounced on October 18 in this law a “new attempt to discriminate and attack the dignity of the LGBT community”.

"The initiative is also an insult to society as a whole with its absurd arguments and its ignorance of human rights," added the organization, designated a "foreign agent" by the authorities.