Breaking News - Russian parliament backs ban on 'gay propaganda'

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Yuri Kochetkov / EPARussian Interior Ministry officers detain two gay rights activists during an unsanctioned protest in front of the Duma, Russia's lower house of parliament, in Moscow on Friday.By Gabriela Baczynska and Alissa de Carbonnel, ReutersRussia's parliament backed a draft law on Friday banning "homointercourseual  propaganda," in what critics see as an attempt to shore up support for  President Vladimir Putin in the country's largely conservative society.

Only  one deputy in the State Duma lower house voted against the bill, but  passions spilled over outside the chamber, where 20 people were detained  after scuffles between Russian Orthodox Christians and gay activists  who staged a "kiss-in" protest.

"We live in Russia, not Sodom  and Gomorrah," United Russia deputy Dmitry Sablin said before the 388-1  vote in the 450-seat chamber. "Russia is a thousands-years-old country  founded on its own traditional values - the protection of which is  dearer to me than even oil and gas."




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