Russian prosecutors have called a ban on two Instagram advertisements for the Italian fashion house Dolce & Gabbana that show same-sex couples kissing.
The press service for the St. Petersburg courts announced that the Oktyabrsky district court had received a claim from the prosecutor’s office asking for the move against one of the Dolce & Gabbana Instagram ads because two women are shown kissing in it.
According to the plaintiff, the video ‘contains information that rejects family values and propagandizes nontraditional sexual relationships.’
The press service said the prosecutor’s request included a second Dolce & Gabbana Instagram image showing two men kissing.
The complaints were filed by Mikhail Romanov, a member of the ruling United Russia party who sits in the State Duma, the lower house of parliament.
Dolce & Gabbana has declined to comment on the case.
The two short videos under fire were part of its global Love Is Love campaign in the run-up to Valentine’s Day on February 14.
While same-sex relationships are legal in Russia, President Vladimir Putin has promoted a ‘traditional values’ agenda, including by adopting in 2013 a law criminalizing ‘propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations among minors.’
The legislation has caused many members of Russia’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community to leave the country.
The prosecutor’s claim has not progressed yet because it had not fulfilled certain administrative requirements, including providing documents supporting the claim, according to the press service for the St. Petersburg courts.
It said information on the case will next be updated on June 7.
With reporting by Reuters and TASS
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