A group of six U.S. organizations, including one based in Northern Illinois, have signed an international petition that supports anti-LGBT laws in Russia.
Rockford-based World Congress of Families was among over 100 international conservative groups praising the anti-gay legislation passed by the Duma and Russian President Vladimir Putin this past summer, according to advocate.com .
In the petition, the signees "acknowledge that the Russian law protects the innocence of children and the basic rights of their parents recognized in the international legislation and treaties. With its new law Russia is protecting genuine and universally recognized human rights against artificial and fabricated 'values' aggressively imposed in many modern societies."
Other U.S. groups include the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute, Mission: America, GrasstopsUSA, Population Research Institute and His Servants.
In a press release, U.S. Congress of Families eschewed negative characterizations of the laws.
"All the law does is to prohibit advocacy aimed at involving minors in a lifestyle that would imperil their physical and moral health," said Larry Jacobs, the organization's managing director. "The law at issue doesn't change the legality of homosexual relations between adults. It simply states that adults can't try to corrupt children by encouraging sexual experimentation which could have life-threatening consequences."
A number of gay rights advocates have maintained, however, that the legislation's loose definition of what constitutes propaganda gives Russian police a wide berth in determining whom they may or may not arrest for publicly acknowledging homosexuality. Furthermore activists say the law also enflames dangerous anti-gay sentiments that run rampant in Russian culture.