RIAU24.COM – The Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs directed his officials Monday to Russian Ambassador Oleg Stepanov over a series of anti-LGBTQ tweets, including one targeting an openly lesbian federal minister.
The embassy has posted messages on Twitter in recent days after Russian lawmakers approved a law banning all forms of LGBTQ “propaganda” that critics say escalates repression of “non-traditional” sexual relationships, affecting everything from books and films to social media posts.
“Unsurprisingly, Russia has once again chosen hate propaganda,” Emily Williams, deputy communications director for Secretary of State Mélanie Joly, said in a statement.
“This is an attack on Canada's values of acceptance and tolerance. Minister Joly has ordered Global Affairs Canada to summon the Russian ambassador to tell him so,” he said.
A photographic illustration included in a Russian tweet included a pride flag covered with a red stripe inside a red circle, indicating that it was banned.
The accompanying statement read: “It's all about family. Family is made up of men, women and children.”
The Russian embassy also targeted Canadian Sports Minister Pascale St-Onge, who is openly lesbian. This tirade came after he spoke out against “Russian homophobic propaganda.”
He was asked to “explore and explain how you came into this world?” »
“We absolutely cannot tolerate this rhetoric and even more so the subsequent comments on Minister St-Onge’s response,” Williams said.
In an email to AFP, St-Onge said he was “deeply offended by the Russian ambassador's message towards homosexuals while he was on Canadian soil”, calling it a “harsh affront to rights”. acquired by the entire LGBTQ+ community.
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