The Orthodox Church in Russia has proposed a referendum on banning gay relationships.
Orthordox Church spokesman Vsevolod Chaplin. Photo: AFP (file)
Church spokesman Vsevolod Chaplin pointed to polls showing more than a third of Russians view homosexuality as an illness as a sign that the country was ready to revert to a Soviet-era homosexual ban.
"There is no question that society should discuss this issue since we live in a democracy," Chaplin told the online edition of Izvestia, a the pro-government daily newspaper.
"For this reason, it is precisely the majority of our people and not some outside powers that should decide what should be a criminal offence and what should not," he said.
Legislation was passed last year by parliament that made it a crime to promote same-sexual relationship in front of minors.
"I am convinced that such sexual contacts should be completely excluded from the life of our society," said Chaplin.
"If we manage to do this through moral pressure, all the better. But if we need to revert to assistance from the law, then let us ask the people if they are ready for this."
The Soviet Union criminalised homosexual relationships in 1934 at the height of Joseph Stalin's repressions. The ban was repealed in 1993, but gay rights remained under strong pressure.
