Anti-gay Russian lawmaker backs Ukraine rebels

Colin Stewart is a 45-year journalism veteran living in Southern…

Vitaly Milonov (Photo courtesy of Wikipedia)

Outspoken anti-gay Russian legislator Vitaly Milonov has accepted a role as a representative of the breakaway self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic in eastern Ukraine, Agence France-Presse reports.
Milonov has previously:

Threatened the arrest of gay athletes and tourists at the recent Olympic games in Sochi.
Sought the arrest of singer Lady Gaga in 2012 for allegedly violating the anti-gay propaganda law that he wrote.
Accused singer Madonna of breaking that law during a 2012 concert in St. Petersburg during which she said that homosexuals should have the same rights as heterosexuals.
Debated actor/LGBT rights activist Stephen Fry about the law. After that debate, Fry commented, “Milonov doesn’t seem to believe there are teenagers bullied and tormented for being gay, he thinks they make it up … He regards liberals as the destroyers of Europe.”

AFP reported that Milonov said, “I’ve accepted an offer from the Donetsk activists to become a representative of the People’s Republic of Donetsk in Saint Petersburg.
Pro-Russia separatists declared the “People’s Republic of Donetsk” in April that industrial city after seizing control of the main administrative building there.
AFP said that the Moscow representative of the Donetsk People’s Republic, Alexei Khudyakov, confirmed Milonov’s support for the separatist group but said his new job title was still in doubt.
A bill like Milonov’s law against “gay propaganda” has been discussed in Ukraine, but has not been enacted.