INTERNATIONAL
Oliver Stone Tells Putin Anti-Gay Law “Sensible”
Filmmaker rants about trans people, “spoiled kids,” missing “the bigger point”
BY MATT TRACY
Two years after they
discussed gay men in
showers, veteran fi lmmaker
Oliver Stone and
Russian President Vladimir Putin
have reunited — this time to talk
about how “sensible” the anti-LGBTQ
laws are in Russia.
The two followed up on their
2017 multiple-part Showtime series
dubbed “The Putin Interviews”
with a fresh, wide-ranging discussion
at the Kremlin on June 19.
According to a transcript released
by the Kremlin on July 19 , the pair
touched on the US, Russia’s relations
with Ukraine, and other international
affairs, but not before
Stone delved into criticism about
the state of society these days.
Stone, 72, ranted about how
young people in America are “different”
and “are spoiled to some degree
in the Western world,” saying
that he is “shocked” by the behaviors
of the new generation.
“And so much of the argument,
so much of the thinking, so much
Filmmaker Oliver Stone faces Vladimir Putin as they discuss the “sensible” anti-gay law in Russia and
“spoiled” Western young people obsessed with gender.
of the newspaper, television commentaries
about gender, people
identify themselves, and social media,
this and that, I’m male, I’m female,
I’m transgender, I’m cisgender,”
Stone said. “It goes on forever,
and there is a big fi ght about who
is who. It seems like we miss the
bigger point.”
How exactly being transgender
is missing “the bigger point” is left
to the imagination, but Stone then
KREMLIN.RU
segued into Russia’s notorious law
banning LGBTQ-related materials
from being distributed to children,
which has been a slippery slope in
that nation’s broader crackdown
on queer rights and visibility even
when children are not involved.
Referring to the law, Stone said,
“You said that in Russia we don’t
propagate it.”
“Not exactly,” Putin responded
before employing his usual defense
of the law. “We have a law banning
propaganda among minors.”
Stone replied, “Yes, that’s the
one I’m talking about. It seems like
maybe that’s a sensible law.”
Putin claimed it is “aimed at allowing
people to reach maturity
and then decide who they are and
how they want to live. There are no
restrictions at all after this.”
Putin’s claim of “no restrictions”
contradicts reality in Russia,
where LGBTQ people are barred
from merely holding Pride celebrations
and have faced persecution in
their daily lives — especially after
the anti-gay law passed. Horrifi c
videos of gay men being tortured,
posted online by their tormentors,
have from time to time surfaced.
The dialogue between the two
men picked up from where “The
Putin Interviews” left off. There,
when asked if he would shower
with gay men, Putin pointed to his
martial arts skills.
“Well, I prefer not to go to the
shower with him,” Putin said.
“Why provoke him? But you know,
I’m a judo master.”
EDUCATION
NYS Human Rights Law Now Protects Students
New measure fi lls gap in nondiscrimination enforcement in public schools
BY MATT TRACY
Human rights laws in
New York State have
been expanded to protect
public school students
from bullying, discrimination,
and harassment, effectively
closing loopholes that prevented
victims from taking action to address
those problems.
Under S.4901/ A.3425, which
was co-sponsored by out gay State
Senator Brad Hoylman and signed
by Governor Andrew Cuomo on
July 25, public schools are now
covered under human rights law
and gives the state’s Division of Human
Rights the power to probe repots
of bullying, harassment, and
discrimination in public schools.
The legislation addressed gaps
in the Dignity for All Students Act
(DASA) and a hurdle created by a
2012 State Court of Appeals ruling
fi nding that the State Division of
Human Rights could no longer address
bullying, harassment, and
discrimination in public schools
after the division had oversight
over those schools for nearly 30
years.
When the 2012 ruling was handed
down, the state had to dismiss 70
complaints against public schools.
It is not clear whether those older
cases could be re-opened.
DASA, passed in 2010 and implemented
in 2012 — more than a
decade after it was fi rst introduced
by out gay former State Senator
Tom Duane in 1999 — offers legal
protections against bullying, harassment,
and discrimination.
But the law has enforcement
limitations and has largely been
used on a broader level to create
regulations in the State Education
Department to provide local
schools with guidance on these issues.
It provided student victims of
bullying and discrimination with
no private right to pursue legal
remedies.
“This law will fi nally restore
the anti-discrimination protections
afforded under the Human
Rights Law to New York’s public
schoolchildren,” Hoylman said in
a written statement. “With LGBTQ
New Yorkers and other vulnerable
communities under attack by the
Trump administration, it couldn’t
come a moment too soon.”
After signing the bill, Cuomo
stressed that every student “has
the right to pursue an education
free from bullying, harassment,
and discrimination.”
“By signing this bill into law, we
are building on New York’s legacy
of equality and fairness and guaranteeing
public school students
get the protections they deserve,”
he added.
August 1 - August 14, 2 18 019 | GayCityNews.com
/KREMLIN.RU
/GayCityNews.com
