The Russian people are opposed to the “imposition” of ideas like the rights of sexual minorities and “gender diversity,” the speaker of the country’s upper house said on Sunday, calling them “alien values.”
Speaking on Sunday at a meeting with Fawzia Zainal, the head of Bahrain’s Council of Representatives, Russian Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matvienko said that it is unacceptable to put foreign values on a country without taking into account its history, faith, religion, and national characteristics.
According to Matvienko, who is currently on a three-day working visit to Manama, Russia’s focus is on the “traditional family,” and children are “the main priority of state policy.”
“They are trying to impose alien values on us. And not only on us, but on the advancement in the world in general,” she said. “It’s sexual minority rights. There are already 85 genders in Europe. It is unacceptable for us,” she said.
She later met with Ali bin Saleh Al-Saleh, the chairman of Bahrain’s Consultative Council, where she continued to speak about LGBT rights.
“We see what is happening in a number of countries,” she said, suggesting that some nations now have “quotas” for a certain number of LGBT representatives in government.
Earlier this year, a transgender woman was appointed head of a regional branch of the party Civic Initiative, marking a first in Russian politics. Yulia Aleshina cited the successes of foreign transgender politicians as her inspiration.
“In 2020, I came across an article about transgender politicians around the world. It talked about the US and the EU,” she told the newspaper. “I learned that there are already transgender politicians, MPs, and even transgender mayors there. I thought if it is possible there, why is it not possible in Russia?”
According to a September poll by the Levada Center, 53% of Russians believe homosexual relationships should not be allowed, even involving two consenting adults. A further 16% said that they partially agree with this view.