A music channel owned by the media arm of Russian energy giant Gazprom was fined $11,300 for spreading LGBT propaganda among minors in a 90s-era music video that shows two women kissing, the independent Vyorstka news outletreported Friday.The music video with the offending kiss aired in July on the channel Lya-Minor TV, which is owned byRed Media, itself a part of Gazprom Media.
The video is set to the Russian rock band Tantsy Minus 1999 single Gorod (Russian for city).Vyorstka notes that Russias state media watchdog filed a complaint against the channel in September.According to the outlet, the watchdog used a kissing classification system to determine that the 9-second snippet showed gestures of affection and tactile gestures, as well as kissing scenes between two persons of the same biological sex.The channels defense argued in court that the kiss promotes love for Russia and its cities and should not be sexualized.The female characters who kiss in the clip epitomize the beauty and enticement of a big city, the defense attorney was quoted as saying.Moscows Tagansky District Court on Dec.
18 found the channelguilty of spreading LGBT propaganda and issued a fine of 1 million rubles ($11,300).Russia banned propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations toward minors in 2013.
A decade later, President Vladimir Putin expanded the ban to outlaw public displays of non-traditional relationships and lifestyles to people of any age.Rights groups have criticized the Russian government for failing to define what constitutes "gay propaganda" and have warned that the vague criteria mean TV channels and websites could be fined at whim.Since invading Ukraine in 2022, Putin has accelerated Moscow's suppression of the LGBTQ+ community as part of a broader "culture war" with the West.Late last year, Russias top court designated the so-called international LGBT public movement as a banned extremist organization, effectively outlawing LGBTQ+ activism.