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Russian Church Leader Urges Lawmakers to Block Marriage Equality

Russian Church Leader Urges Lawmakers to Block Marriage Equality

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Patriarch Kirill, who heads the Russian Orthodox Church, tells members of Parliament that same-sex marriage is destructive to society.

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The leader of the Russian Orthodox Church has called for government action to prevent the legalization of same-sex marriage in the nation.

Speaking Tuesday in his first appearance before the Federation Council, the upper house of Russia's Parliament, Patriarch Kirill called for state-level legislation to block any attempt to extend marriage rights to same-sex couples.

"In a response to the broad international discussion of this issue we would like to make a resolute statement -- marriage is a union between a man and a woman, based on love and mutual understanding and made in order to give birth to children," he said, according to Russian news source RT.com.

Russia can be a secular state and still limit marriages to male-female unions, he said, as that is not necessarily a religious stance, but a moral one.

Religious leaders and members of the council agreed to adopt a resolution making a joint statement on the matter "to all sober-minded people of Russia and other countries." It reads, "Preservation of marriage as a union between a man and a woman based on love and mutual understanding and birth of beloved children are a precondition for survival of humankind," reports the ITAR-TASS News Agency.

The patriarch claimed that same-sex marriage is a threat to Russian society, and a few months ago he called for the laws making homosexuality a crime in the nation. Russia repealed such laws in the 1990s, after the breakup of the Soviet Union. It has, however, criminalized positive public discussion of LGBT rights and identities in venues accessible to minors with the "gay propaganda" law enacted last summer.

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Trudy Ring

Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.
Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.