British actor and comedian Stephen Fry, famed for his portrayal of Oscar Wilde, has voiced outrage over a law adopted in St Petersburg banning the promotion of gay lifestyles in Russia.

­The bill submitted by the United Russia party last November caused a furore among the country’s gay rights and human rights watchdogs, who found its wording discriminatory.

“Hell's teeth, Fry wrote in his Twitter feed. Something must be done to stop these fantastical monsters. Will talking about Tchaikovsky be banned?” the versatile actor, once named the second most influential gay person in Britain, added.

The new version of the law describes what is meant by “public activities aimed at the propaganda of sodomy, lesbianism, bisexuality, and transgender among youth.”

Such actions include “spreading information that can damage the health and moral development of underage children, and make them believe that both traditional and gay relationships are normal.”
From now on, promoting homosexuality will be punishable by fines ranging from $168 to $16,800.
The law also deals with the promotion of pedophilia.

St. Petersburg’s LGBT community came out onto the streets in anger at the controversial law, but the rally was dispersed by police in no time, with one of the protesters arrested.

Activists in Moscow have asked for permission to hold a gay pride parade for several years – in vain, with the city’s former Mayor Yury Luzhkov once describing them as "satanic".

Last year, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Russia had to pay 30,000 euros in compensation to gay activists over its decision to ban such parades in 2006, 2007 and 2008.