July 7, 2012 | Sex & Society

Ukrainian lawmakers pull anti-gay bill

The Ukraine is a very conservative country, and so very scared of the gays. So scared that the first ever Kiev Gay Pride march was cancelled in May, amid fears of violence from far-right thugs. So scared that the national Parliament this year drafted legislation that would make presenting homosexuality in a positive light a crime.

According to , the international gay rights organization, “Law 8711 would make it illegal to ‘spread homosexuality' by ‘holding meetings, parades, actions, demonstrations and mass events aiming at intentional distribution of any positive information about homosexuality’ and imposes penalties of fines and up to five years imprisonment."

The bill was due for a vote on Friday, but was pulled from the agenda at the last minute. This was due largely to   pressure from Western countries, rather than sudden enlightenment. Ukraine wants to be a part of the European Union one day, but the EU does not allow member states to oppress gay people, so the country would have to repeal the law eventually anyway.

So maybe there will be a Kiev Pride march one day, after all.