[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/equallywed.com\/gay-parents-forced-to-leave-russia-due-to-gay-propaganda-law\/#BlogPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/equallywed.com\/gay-parents-forced-to-leave-russia-due-to-gay-propaganda-law\/","headline":"Gay parents forced to leave Russia due to \u2018gay propaganda law\u2019","name":"Gay parents forced to leave Russia due to \u2018gay propaganda law\u2019","description":"Gay parents from Russia were forced to leave their home country after they said authorities threatened to take their two adopted children into custody.","datePublished":"2019-08-20","dateModified":"2019-08-20","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/equallywed.com\/author\/dyanabagby\/#Person","name":"Dyana Bagby","url":"https:\/\/equallywed.com\/author\/dyanabagby\/","identifier":6804,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6113dc70f8e9f2874f060d5614918858f6d7357006a1352bd763ab372ca336f9?s=96&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6113dc70f8e9f2874f060d5614918858f6d7357006a1352bd763ab372ca336f9?s=96&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Equally Wed","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"http:\/\/equallywed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/equally-wed-lgbtq-weddings-logo.jpg","url":"http:\/\/equallywed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/equally-wed-lgbtq-weddings-logo.jpg","width":218,"height":60}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/equallywed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/gay-parents-russia-selfie.jpg","url":"https:\/\/equallywed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/gay-parents-russia-selfie.jpg","height":901,"width":1200},"url":"https:\/\/equallywed.com\/gay-parents-forced-to-leave-russia-due-to-gay-propaganda-law\/","about":["Family","Marriage Equality News","News"],"wordCount":529,"keywords":["gay parents","Russia"],"articleBody":"Gay parents from Russia were forced to leave their home country after they said authorities threatened to take their two adopted children into custody.Andrei Vaganov and Evgeny Erofeyev, who were legally married in Denmark in 2016, said this month they fled Russia after they became the target of a criminal investigation for raising their two sons, Denis and Yuri, ages 12 and 14.Courtesy of Andrei Vaganov and Evgeny Erofeyev via Meduza.ioAlthough Vaganov adopted the boys before he was married to Erofeyev, Russian officials said the adoption violated the country\u2019s \u201cgay propaganda law\u201d passed in 2013 that forbids teaching children about LGBTQ+ issues.Russian authorities learned the gay couple had two sons when Yuri was rushed to a hospital in June complaining of stomach pains. He told the medical staff he had two fathers, prompting investigators to open a case about the boy being possibly molested, Vaganov told Deutsche Welle, a German media company.An investigation was also opened into the social workers for allowing the boys to live with a gay couple. An adoption agency representative asked the couple to voluntarily give up the children, leading Vaganov\u2019s attorney to tell him he and the children needed to leave Russia.Courtesy of Andrei Vaganov and Evgeny Erofeyev via Meduza.io\u201cLess than two hours later, Yuri and I packed our things and left Russia. Shortly afterward we also took Denis out of the country,\u201d he told Deutsche Welle.Erofeyev left Russia more than a week later.Vaganov said he never asked the children to deny they had two fathers.\u201cI also never said that we are a special family. I just said that there are different kinds of families,\u201d he said.Vaganov said he also could be charged with murdering his children because he refused to bring them to Russian authorities.Courtesy of Andrei Vaganov and Evgeny Erofeyev via Meduza.io\u201cSeveral lawyers have confirmed that the authorities could take the children away from me,\u201d he told Deutsche Welle. \u201cThey would then be handed over to psychologists. And on the basis of these conversations with the children, the authorities could then, for example, initiate proceedings for the use of violence.\u201cI left the country for two reasons,\u201d he added. \u201cFirstly because of the idea that my children could end up in an orphanage. Secondly, because I was told directly that I would, in any case, be arrested for seducing minors.\u201dHuman Rights Watch, an international non-governmental agency that tracks global human rights abuses and conducts research and advocacy, released a report last year stating Russia\u2019s \u201cgay propaganda law\u201d harms LGBTQ+ youth.The formal name of the law is \u201caimed at protecting children from information promoting the denial of traditional family values\u201d and bans the \u201cpromotion of nontraditional sexual relations to minors,\u201d such as LGBTQ+ relationships.The ban includes information provided via the press, television, radio and the internet.Human Rights Watch states in its report Russia\u2019s anti-gay law has been used to shut down websites that provided resources to LGBTQ+ youth. The law has also played a role in an uptick of violent attacks against LGBTQ+ people in a country already hostile toward LGBTQ+ people. "},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Gay parents forced to leave Russia due to \u2018gay propaganda law\u2019","item":"https:\/\/equallywed.com\/gay-parents-forced-to-leave-russia-due-to-gay-propaganda-law\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]