Russia’s lower house of parliament on Tuesday gave its final approval for a controversial “anti-gay” bill, with only one of the 436 lawmakers present abstaining and no votes against, after a day of clashes outside the building and dozens of arrests by police.
The bill seeks to ban the “the promotion of non-traditional sexual relationships,” making such acts punishable by a fine of up to 1 million rubles ($30,000).
The first draft of the bill, passed by the State Duma on January 25, used the term “homosexuality” but this was replaced by the term “non-traditional sexual relationships,” in the final version Tuesday.
To become law the bill must now be passed by the Federation Council – Russia’s upper house of parliament – and signed by President Vladimir Putin. Both steps are likely to be mere formalities.