The offending rainbow unicorn bank card that was declared “gay propaganda.” – Photo: Sberbank
In what has become an all-too-common story, Russian lawmakers went ballistic over a bank card featuring a rainbow unicorn, decrying it as a form of pro-LGBTQ “propaganda.”
Lawmakers from the Russian State Duma’s Family, Women and Children Committee have called on Sberbank, Russia’s largest financial institution, to remove the unicorn design from its specialty bank cards for children, declaring that anything involving rainbow colors is a symbol of the “international LGBT movement.”
In a letter to Sberbank head German Gref, the lawmakers said that several “outraged” parents had complained to them about the bank card’s design, seeing the cartoon unicorn as an attempt to indoctrinate their children.
“We ask you, dear German Oskarovich, to take into account the opinion of parents and deputies of our committee on preventing violations of Russian legislation and to halt the issuance of the Children’s SberCard with the ‘rainbow unicorn’ — a symbol of the LBGT movement,” the letter reads.
Sberbank typically issues cards for children aged 6 to 13 with seven different designs, including the rainbow unicorn, which is seen dabbing on the card’s front.
Russia’s Putin-led government has led a decades-long crackdown on forms of LGBTQ visibility. It has vocally opposed the expansion of LGBTQ rights and has sought to link LGBTQ identity to Western culture as a corrupting influence.
In 2013, Russian lawmakers passed a law prohibiting “LGBT propaganda,” or any information “advocating non-traditional sexual relationships.” The law was expanded in 2022 to apply to all Russian citizens.
Efforts to crack down on LGBTQ visibility have ramped up following a Russian Supreme Court decision declaring the “international LGBT movement” — which does not exist as a singular entity — to be an “extremist organization.” Russia law enforcement has sought to erase symbols of LGBTQ identity, including anything with a rainbow or rainbow colors.
Last year, the Russian television channel TNT Music removed a rainbow featured in the music video for the K-pop group Seventeen’s hit song “God of Music.” In February, a woman was arrested and charged with spreading “LGBT propaganda” for wearing rainbow-colored earrings, while another was prosecuted for displaying a rainbow Pride flag on her Instagram account. A third woman was fined for displaying a Pride flag in the window of her house.
Russian law enforcement agents raided a “My Little Pony” convention for allegedly promoting homosexuality, due to some characters’ perceived gender-nonconformity, as well as the belief that a rainbow-colored unicorn was a symbol of support for LGBTQ rights.
In March, a man was arrested and charged for using “extremist symbols” when he sent a rainbow flag emoji in a private chat.
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