HORRIBLE

Gay Couple Forced to Flee Russia After Authorities Threatened to Take Their Sons

The couple was accused of breaking Russia’s “gay propaganda law” by letting their children know they were married.

Andrey Vaganov and his partner, Evgeny Erofeyev, were forced to flee their country after they rushed their son to the hospital in June for a stomach ache—and Russian authorities threatened to take their kids away. At the hospital, the couple’s child told staffers that he had two fathers, which led to them to being accused of breaking Russia’s “gay propaganda law” by letting their two sons know they are married. The family decided to leave the country when Russian authorities requested that Vaganov’s children, ages 12 and 14, be placed in a state-owned rehabilitation center while police further investigated the matter. Vaganov told Meduza, an independent Russian-language news outlet, that authorities were considering charging the couple with murder if they did not show up. Matters have only gotten worse in Russia for would-be gay parents. On July 15, a speaker in Russian Parliament described gay adoptions as being the end of man kind. One day later, a federal committee opened up a case against the agency that helped Vaganov adopt.