After facing international criticism for Russia's new sexuality law, President Vladimir Putin claimed on Thursday that gay people are not discriminated against, USA TODAY reported.
Putin said the recently established law, which bans "propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations among minors," imposes no "infringement on the rights of sexual minorities."
He claimed that despite gay marriages being legal in European countries, their population is declining and "gay marriages don't produce children." The president added heterosexual couples should have more children and urged critics to "let us make our own choice, as we see it for our country."
In addition to discussing the country's law, Putin said he may run for another presidential term in 2018. If he won, he would serve for a quarter century -- making him Russia's longest-serving leader since Josef Stalin.
The law, deemed by activists as anti-gay, has inspired boycotts of the 2014 winter olympics to be held in Sochi, Russia from celebrities and athletes alike and even prompted legislators to take action.
U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon announced in August that he would propose a bill to protect LGBT athletes and spectators during the olympics.
The Democratic senator decided to write the bill after Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko was quoted saying "No one is forbidding an athlete with non-traditional sexual orientation from coming to Sochi, but if he goes onto the street and starts propagandizing it, then of course he will be held accountable."
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) has also been active in openly discussing the issue. In response to Mutko's remarks, the HRC's vice president of communications Fred Sainz issued a statement of his own.
"The opinion of the Russian government is now perfectly clear: if you're gay and you come to Russia for the Olympics, you will be in harm's way."
