Putin says, no same-sex marriage in Russia as long as I’m president, “there will be dad and mum”

Russian President, Vladimir Putin has vowed to defend traditional family values for as long as he’s the country’s leader.

The president made the comments in Moscow on Thursday while meeting with a Kremlin-appointed committee to discuss amendments to the constitution.

“A marriage is a union of a man and woman,” Putin said. “This is the right idea and it should be supported. We need to only think about how to formulate it and where.

“As far as ‘parent number 1’ and ‘parent number 2’ goes, I’ve already spoken publicly about this and I’ll repeat it again: as long as I’m president this will not happen. There will be dad and mum,” Putin said.

In 2013, Putin signed into law a bill prohibiting the public promotion of homosexuality in Russia. The federal law is titled, “Purpose of Protecting Children from Information Advocating for a Denial of Traditional Family Values.” The law has also been dubbed the “Gay Propaganda Law.”

According to Reuters, Putin has closely aligned himself with the Orthodox Church during his two decades in the Kremlin. He has also sought to distance Russia from liberal Western values, including attitudes towards homosexuality and gender fluidity.