Vladimir Putin’s political party United Russia has unveiled a new “flag for straights” to compete with the Western world’s widespread adoption of the LGBT pride rainbow flag.
The flag features the silhouette of a nuclear family featuring a mother, father and three kids with the hashtag that says “#realfamily” in Russian.
RELATED:Sir Ian McKellen talks NYC Pride and modern LGBTQ politics The flag was officially unveiled during celebrations of Russia’s Day of Family Love and Faithfulness.
“This is our answer to same-sex marriages, this mockery of the very concept of family,” Aleksey Lisovenko, the deputy head of United Russia’s Moscow branch told a Russian newspaper. “We must prevent gay fever in our country and support traditional values.” RELATED:The Ernest Opinion: Stop using the religious card to be a bigot Lisovenko also hopes to fight the “gay fever” by banning the appearance of the rainbow flag anywhere in Russia, even online.
Since the “flag for straights” debut many have pointed out that it is nearly identical to the French “Manif Pour Tous” movement.
RELATED: Dating app Coffee Meets Bagel accidentally celebrates ‘Happy F– Day!’ According to Lisovenko, though, the French activists decided to let Russia borrow the design for the sake of the movement.
The only difference in Russia’s version is the extra child between the mother and father.
Russia is a notoriously oppressive place to be LGBT (or perhaps anybody, really). The country has adopted harsh anti-LGBT laws and human rights groups have criticized the country’s widespread mistreatment of LGBT people. Matt Lee is a Web producer for Metro New York. He writes about almost everything and anything. Talk to him (or yell at him) on Twitter so he doesn’t feel lonely@mattlee2669.
Russia creates ‘flag for straights’
