A St. Petersburg University took down an iPhone monument from its campus after Apple CEO Tim Cook announced his sexual orientation. Some claim that this decision springs from Russia’s ban on homosexual propaganda.
Russian media provided conflicting reports about the taking down of the iPhone monument on Monday. One report claimed that the monument had to be dismantled according to Russia’s federal law which is aimed at protecting its children from information presenting the rejection of traditional family values.
On the other hand, there were reports claiming that the decision had not been connected to Cook’s announcement and that dismantling the monument had been decided upon before Apple’s CEO announcement.
“There’s an official letter from ZEFS saying they’re dismantling it for renovation,”
a University spokesman told reporters.
The same spokesman said that future statements clarifying the issue would follow soon after, revealing why the monument was removed.
The monument’s dismantling came to be after a St. Petersburg lawmaker insisted that Apple’s CEO be banned from Russia for being gay. The same lawmaker originally sponsored the legislation inspiring Russia’s homosexual-propaganda ban. Vitaly Milonov, the lawmaker in question, made these statements last week.
A statement made by Milonov allegedly read:
“What could he [Cook] bring us? The Ebola virus, Aids, gonorrhea? They all have unseemly ties over there. Ban him for life.”
The monument was six-feet high and shaped as an iPhone.
“In Russia, gay propaganda and other sexual perversions among minors are prohibited by law,”
a statement in ZEFS read.
According to the same statement, the iPhone memorial was located in an area where young students and scholars would be directly exposed to such propaganda. The statement went on to say that Tim Cook had publicly called for sodomy.
President Putin explained that the reason why the gay propaganda ban was issued was only out of concern for young people and that members of the gay community would not suffer discrimination.