When Russia passed a law banning what it called “propaganda of non-traditional relationships,” it made positive discussion about LGBT relationships illegal. The official rationale for the law was to protect children. But the reality is that it hurts them. Over the past two years, Human Rights Watch has interviewed LGBT children in Russia about the law’s devastating effect on their lives. What it does is more than slapping “offenders” with fines – it gives high-level social sanction for hating LGBT people. It gave vigilantes a sense of permission to attack LGBT people.