The following is the quote from Mr. Putin's recent pronouncements on the issues of homosexuality and "anti gay propaganda law" (17:21 - 19:50 on the video);
as WSJ put it,
"Mr. Putin appeared to lump homosexuality and pedophilia together":
Встреча с волонтёрами Олимпиады-2014 - 17 января 2014 года, 15:20 Сочи
"РЕПЛИКА: У меня есть второй вопрос. Его просили задать волонтёры-иностранцы. Он немножко легкомысленный, может быть, даже хулиганский, но я рискну.
Как так получилось, что у нас есть закон, запрещающий пропаганду гомосексуализма, а форма волонтёров, цветовая гамма – радужная?
В.ПУТИН: Если Вы думаете, что я эту форму создавал, то Вы глубоко заблуждаетесь. Это во-первых.
Во-вторых, у нас нет запрета на нетрадиционные формы сексуального взаимодействия между людьми, у нас есть запрет на пропаганду гомосексуализма и педофилии, я хочу это подчеркнуть, на пропаганду среди несовершеннолетних. Это разные вещи абсолютно. Абсолютно разные вещи – запрет на определённые отношения либо на пропаганду этих отношений.
У меня ещё встреча с журналистами сегодня, наверняка будут эти вопросы. Мы ничего не запрещаем, никого не хватаем, у нас нет никакой ответственности за такие отношения в отличие от многих других стран мира, я хочу это подчеркнуть – в отличие от многих других стран мира, в том числе и в США в некоторых штатах предусмотрена уголовная ответственность за нетрадиционную сексуальную ориентацию. У нас ничего подобного нет, поэтому можно себя чувствовать свободно, непринуждённо, но оставьте детей в покое, пожалуйста.
В некоторых странах мира, кстати говоря, уже ставят вопрос о легализации педофилии. Да-да. Уже обсуждают на практическом уровне в законодательных органах.
РЕПЛИКА: А какие это страны?
В.ПУТИН: Не будем их задевать всуе.
РЕПЛИКА: Секрет?
В.ПУТИН: Нет, ничего секретного нет, посмотрите в интернете – вы сразу найдёте. Но партии ставят вопрос в некоторых парламентах. И что, мы должны за ними, как бобики, шлёпать в сторону неизвестных последствий?
У нас свои традиции, своя культура, мы с уважением относимся к любым нашим партнёрам и просим, чтобы так же с уважением относились к нашим традициям и к нашей культуре."
See also:
Gays Can Be ‘Relaxed and Calm’ at the Olympics, Putin Says - NYTimes
» No One Will Be Targeted at Olympics, Putin Says
17/01/14 15:38 from NYT > International
President Vladimir V. Putin said visitors to Sochi for the Olympic Games, including gay men and lesbians, could be “relaxed and calm,” but he defended a ban on “homosexual propaganda.”
» Putin to gays: Leave children in peace
17/01/14 21:17 from CNN.com - World
Russian President Vladimir Putin assures gay individuals that they are safe, but asks that they leave children in peace.
» Putin: Gay people will be safe at Olympics if they ‘leave kids alone’
17/01/14 17:43 from World: World News, International News, Foreign Reporting - The Washington Post
MOSCOW — President Vladimir Putin said Friday that gay people have nothing to fear in Russia as long as they leave children alone. Putin met with a group of volunteers in the Olympic mountain venue at Krasnaya Polyana on Friday to wish t...
» Olympics: Putin Says Russia is not 'Going After' Gays
17/01/14 14:10 from Voice of America
Russia is not “going after” gays, President Vladimir Putin said on Friday, defending a ban on “propaganda” about homosexuality that has brought criticism from the West ahead of the Winter Olympics. The Kremlin hopes the games, starting...
» Putin: Russia must "cleanse" itself of homosexuality
19/01/14 17:30 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Home - CBSNews.com. In a failed attempt to reassure the world ahead of the Sochi Olympics, the Russian president defends anti-gay laws
» Russian President Putin links gays to pedophiles
19/01/14 16:28 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from AP Top Headlines At 2:30 p.m. EST. MOSCOW (AP) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin has offered new assurances to gay athletes and fans attending the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics next month. Yet he defended R...
» Putin, the Winter Olympics and why there are two kinds of homophobia | Barbara Ellen
19/01/14 09:36 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from World news and comment from the Guardian | theguardian.com. State-sanctioned gay harassment is horrible – but prejudice still lurks in supposedly enlightened countries Valdimir Putin is out and proud – as ...
» CNN on Russia`s serial kidnapper/torturer of gays who Putin refuses to arrest - AMERICAblog (blog)
19/01/14 20:19 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Russia - Google News. CNN on Russia `s serial kidnapper/torturer of gays who Putin refuses to arrest AMERICAblog (blog) Russian vigilante groups have organized around the country to kidnap young gay people...
» Gay protester detained in Russia - ESPN
19/01/14 20:15 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Russia - Google News. RT Gay protester detained in Russia ESPN MOSCOW -- A gay Russian protester was detained on Saturday for unfurling a rainbow flag during the Olympic torch relay as it passed through hi...
» Anti-Gay Russian Vigilante Arrested in Cuba
19/01/14 20:14 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from The Moscow Times Top Stories. A Russian far-right A Russian far right activist known for his violent campaign targeting alleged pedophiles has been arrested in on Cuba on an international arrest warrant, R...
-
I think that these issues have to be addressed and commented on to clear this misconception which is deliberately and erroneously perpetuated. This article presents the scientific research in this area:
"In summary, each of these studies failed to support the hypothesis that homosexual males are more likely than heterosexual men to molest children or to be sexually attracted to children or adolescents.
The Mainstream View
Reflecting the results of these and other studies, as well as clinical experience, the mainstream view among researchers and professionals who work in the area of child sexual abuse is that homosexual and bisexual men do not pose any special threat to children. For example, in one review of the scientific literature, noted authority Dr. A. Nicholas Groth wrote:
Are homosexual adults in general sexually attracted to children and are preadolescent children at greater risk of molestation from homosexual adults than from heterosexual adults? There is no reason to believe so. The research to date all points to there being no significant relationship between a homosexual lifestyle and child molestation. There appears to be practically no reportage of sexual molestation of girls by lesbian adults, and the adult male who sexually molests young boys is not likely to be homosexual (Groth & Gary, 1982, p. 147).
In a later literature review, Dr. Nathaniel McConaghy (1998) similarly cautioned against confusing homosexuality with pedophilia. He noted, "The man who offends against prepubertal or immediately postpubertal boys is typically not sexually interested in older men or in women" (p. 259).
This well known lack of a linkage between homosexuality and child molestation accounts for why relatively little research has directly addressed the issue. For example, a 1998 comprehensive review of published empirical research on the sexual abuse of boys reported only one study (the 1994 study by Jenny and colleagues, cited above) that included data about the self-reported sexual orientation of perpetrators (Holmes & Slap, 1998).
Proving something that is already widely known simply isn't a priority for scientists. Indeed, a commentary that accompanied publication of the study by Jenny et al. in Pediatrics noted that debates about gay people as molesters "have little to do with everyday child abuse" and lamented that they distract lawmakers and the public from dealing with the real problem of children's sexual mistreatment (Krugman, 1994).
...
Conclusion
The empirical research does not show that gay or bisexual men are any more likely than heterosexual men to molest children. This is not to argue that homosexual and bisexual men never molest children. But there is no scientific basis for asserting that they are more likely than heterosexual men to do so. And, as explained above, many child molesters cannot be characterized as having an adult sexual orientation at all; they are fixated on children."
M.N.:
Do not insult gay people by implying that they are the "child molesters", they are not!
See also:
pedophilia - Google Search
Pedophilia - From Wikipedia
pedophilia and homosexuality - Google Search
Furthermore:
" ...the scientific consensus is that sexual orientation is not a choice.[13][14][15] There is no consensus among scientists about why a person develops a particular sexual orientation;[1] however, biologically-based theories for the cause of sexual orientation are favored by experts,[16] which point to genetic factors, the early uterine environment, or both combinations.[14] Moreover, there is no substantive evidence which suggests parenting or early childhood experiences play a role when it comes to sexual orientation;[14] when it comes to same-sex sexual behavior, shared or familial environment plays no role for men and minor role for women.[17] Research over several decades has demonstrated that sexual orientation ranges along a continuum, from exclusive attraction to the opposite sex to exclusive attraction to the same sex.[1]"
Sexual orientation - From Wikipedia
This is what the Science tells us, Mr. Putin.
Sexuality is a very important part of our lives. If you want your children to grow up healthy, to enjoy life and to be productive members of the society, you have to let them develop naturally, just like flowers do, without the undue pressures which might harm their souls. I am sure that if you had a gay son or a lesbian daughter, you would love them just the same and would want them to to be happy in life.
The so called "anti gay propaganda law" is clearly harmful and discriminatory. Some of our best minds, the group of Nobel laureates appealed to you recently to repeal this "law".
Ambassador McFaul summarized the evolution of views on Gay Rights in American society in his recent, detailed and thoughtful article.
As Hillary Clinton expressed it so aptly, "Gay Rights are Human Rights".
That is why we feel that this issue is so important to us: this is not just the question of individual sexual preferences, these are the questions of respect for human dignity, fairness and liberty.
And these issues are universal across nations and cultures. They oppose not the traditional Russian cultural values, as you put it but the traditional Russian tendency towards ignorance and prejudice, I must say with regret. If you want to be on the same level with Nigeria or Iran, for example, be my guest. If you are a part of European culture and history, then share the same values and mentality.
