Church spokesman Vsevolod Chaplin pointed to
polls showing more than half of Russians viewing homosexuality as either an
illness or a crime as a sign that the country was ready to revert to a
Soviet-era homosexual ban.
"There is no question that society should
discuss this issue since we live in a democracy," Chaplin told the online
edition of the pro-government Izvestia daily.
"For this reason, it is precisely the
majority of our people and not some outside powers that should decide what
should be a criminal offence and what should not," he said...
Chaplin -- an outspoken but also influential
Church figure who airs weekly shows on state TV -- claimed that most countries
viewed homosexuality as a crime.
"I am convinced that such sexual contacts
should be completely excluded from the life of our society," said the
Church spokesman.
"If we manage to do this through moral
pressure, all the better. But if we need to revert to assistance from the law,
then let us ask the people if they are ready for this."
The Soviet Union made homosexuality a criminal
offense in 1934 under the totalitarian regime of Joseph Stalin. Russia repealed
its sodomy law in 1993.
A prominent member of Vladimir Putin's party,
however, told the Interfax news agency that the ban is unlikely to ever go
before Russian voters, because Russia is bound by international treaties that
forbid banning homosexuality.
John M. Becker
Managing Editor
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