Russia: Prosecutors investigating children’s library book about cultural diversity for gay ‘propaganda’

Prosecutors in Russia are investigating whether a children’s library book about tolerance and cultural diversity contains alleged gay “propaganda,” it has been reported.

‘Families. Ours and Theirs’ by Vera Timenchik was a book donated to the Ulyanovsk Regional Scientific Library under the ‘Other, Others, Otherwise’ charity project in Russia.

However, according to RIANovosti, a spokesperson for the local prosecutor’s office in the Volga area of Ulyanovsk has said: “There is a problem with the contents of this book, because the promotion of such [homosexual] relations is prohibited by the Russian law.”

On Wednesday, a spokesman for the library said the book has already been removed from open bookshelves.

Ms Timenchik’s book is dedicated to family-related traditions and cultures from countries around the globe, and is alleged to contain information about same-sex marriages.

The Other, Others, Otherwise project was started by noted Russian author Lyudmila Ulitskaya. The charity aims to teach diversity, tolerance, and multiculturalism to children aged 10-13 years.

Last year, it was reported that an author in Russia had managed to publish a children’s book prominently featuring a gay character and his struggle to find acceptance in the country, despite anti-gay laws.

Putin signed the controversial law in June banning the promotion of “non-traditional relationships” toward minors, a move that has been criticised as part of a broader crackdown on Russia’s gay community.