In defense of Russia's law on homosexual propaganda

By Bryan Fischer

Follow me on Twitter: @BryanJFischer, on Facebook at "Focal Point"

Russia, as the world is now aware, recently passed a law that prohibits homosexual propaganda that is targeted at teens. Russia does not want teenagers persuaded that manifestly unnatural and unhealthy behavior is perfectly normal. Good on them. And while sodomy has been legal in Russia since 1993, the new law makes it illegal among teens. Good on them.

There are legal sanctions for violating this law, which has raised the hackles of Olympic athletes who want to be out, proud and in your face everywhere, including during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Russia.

What should we make of this law? Even the pro-family community in the United States has been largely silent on this issue, perhaps stunned by the possibility that a formerly communist country could be ahead of the United States on matters of public morality. And perhaps nervous about actually approving public policy that implements at least part of the message we have been communicating for years.

Now since same-sex conduct has been legal in Russia since 1993, homosexual Olympians have been told quite explicitly that they have nothing to fear from Russian authorities for the private exercise of their sexual proclivities. They will be free to engage in all the abnormal sex they want – as long as they keep it in the bedroom and off the street.

This, we have always been told, is all homosexuals want – to be left alone and for the government to stay out of their bedrooms. Well, they'll have that in Russia. But that's not enough for them. Unless they can flaunt their non-normative sexuality in public, and force all of society not just to tolerate but endorse their behavior, they will not be satisfied.

It should be noted that there is no warrant in this law for attacks on homosexuals. Assault and battery is still a crime in Russia, and all such assaults should be punished to the full extent of the law regardless of the sexual preference of the victims. The solution to sexual deviancy is not vigilante justice.

But Russia has every reason to be concerned about teens being lured into the homosexual lifestyle. A truly alarming report issued by the CDC (note: not a member of the vast, right-wing conspiracy) reveals the enormous health risks to teens who get sucked into thinking that sodomy is a perfectly normal alternative to heterosexuality.

Here are just some of the shocking details. Gay and lesbian teens are:

• More than three times as likely (23.7% to 7.2%) as heterosexual students to have been forced to have sexual intercourse;
  
  
• Three times more likely to have had sexual intercourse with four or more persons (29.9% to 11.1%);
  
  
• Four times more likely to have had sexual intercourse before age 13 (19.8% to 4.8%);
  
  
• Half as likely to use a condom during sexual intercourse (35.8% to 65.5%);
  
  
• Almost three times more likely to have experienced dating violence (27.5% to 10.2%);
  
  
• One-and-a-half times more likely to have felt sad or hopeless (41.3% to 24.8%);
  
  
• Three times more likely to have seriously considered suicide (29.6% to 11.7%);
  
  
• Four times more likely to have actually attempted suicide (25.8% to 6.4%);
  
  
• Three times more likely to smoke more than 10 cigarettes per day (27.8% to 9.1%);
  
  
• One-and-a-half times more likely to use marijuana (34.5% to 21.8%);
  
  
• A staggering eight times more likely to use cocaine (16.6% to 1.8%);
  
  
• Three-and-a-half times more likely to use inhalants (26.1% to 7.6%);
  
  
• Five times more likely to have used ecstasy (22.9% to 4.6%);
  
  
• A mind-blowing nine times more likely to have used heroin (17.7% to 1.8%);
  
  
• Six times more likely to have used meth (21.5% to 3.4%);
  
  
• A catastrophic 10 times more likely to have injected illegal drugs (14.9% to 1.5%).
  

In my nomination for the understatement of the year, the CDC concludes its own report, "Compared with students who are not sexual minorities, a disproportionate number of sexual minority students engage in a wide range of health-risk behaviors."

This is true with regard to sexual practices, intimate partner violence, suicidal ideation, depression and substance abuse of all kinds. In other words, this is not a normal, healthy alternative to heterosexuality.

There are catastrophic pathologies associated with homosexual behavior among teenagers, and any society that cares about its youth will do everything in its power to steer them away from this self-destructive lifestyle. We spend billions urging teens not to take up cigarette smoking. Let's start spending billions to urge them not to take up gay sex.

Bottom line: for the first time in my life, I say it's time for us to be more like Russia.

(Unless otherwise noted, the opinions expressed are the author's and do not necessarily reflect the views of the American Family Association or American Family Radio.)

© Bryan Fischer