Russian Draft Bill Banning Gay Parenting Withdrawn

A draft bill that would have stripped gay parents of their children has been withdrawn from the agenda of the Russian parliament.

Russian lawmaker Aleksei Zhuravlyov of the ruling United Russia party said the bill will be resubmitted for debate to Russia's State Duma after changes are introduced.

He did not elaborate.

The draft was submitted to the State Duma last month.

The head of the State Duma committee on family, women, and children, Yelena Mizulina, said earlier that it was unlikely that the proposed bill would be adopted as it would have been impossible to implement because of the difficulty in identifying parents with "nontraditional sexual orientations."

Russia has been under criticism for its controversial law adopted earlier this year that bans "propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations" among minors."


Based on reporting by RIA-Novosti and Interfax