Russia’s parliament, the Duma, has passed a draft law that will ban LGBT “propaganda” from various forms of media, including television, advertising, books, the Internet, and films.

The Duma passed the draft law on Thursday, which will ban all non-traditional sexual relations from various forms of media and increases the scope of a prior law from 2013 that simply banned non-traditional sexual relations from being viewed by children.

The new law will not only ban LGBT “propaganda” from media but will also ban information regarding changing gender, Swedish broadcaster SVT reports.

According to the Russian news agency TASS, the new law was sponsored by around 400 members of the Duma, which has a total of 450 seats overall, giving the bill wide popularity among Russian lawmakers.

Along what the ban on LGBT material, the law will also demand paid services to confirm the ages of users in order to access LGBT information.

Those who violate the new laws could face stiff fines of up to five million rubles (£69,977/$81,267) if found guilty of spreading LGBT “propaganda” to children and four million rubles (£55,981/$65,014) if the recipients are adults.

Foreigners who are found guilty of breaching the new law and promoting LGBT issues will also face being deported from the country and a 400,000 ruble (£5,598/$6,501) fine.

Russians caught promoting paedophilia will face even harsher fines of up to ten million rubles (£139,966/$162,535).

Natia Gvianishvili, international project manager at the Swedish LGBT group RFSL, spoke to broadcaster SVT about the new bill and the situation regarding LGBT issues in Russia, saying: “It’s gradually gotten worse and worse and this is one more degree.”

The RFSL has not been without its own controversies in recent years, including releasing an overly graphic sex brochure for transgender and homosexual asylum seekers in 2017.

In 2021, a member of the organisation, a man in his fifties, was convicted of raping and sexually abusing asylum seekers who had come to him for help.

Follow Chris Tomlinson on Twitter at @TomlinsonCJ or email at ctomlinson(at)breitbart.com.