The legislation of gay marriage initiatives has reduced the chances of British and French couples being able to adopt Russian children, claims Moscow’s human rights representative on Wednesday. 

This statement comes just days after right-wing opposition attempted to stall passage of same-sex marriage laws through parliament. Konstantin Dolgov, a human rights representative for Russia’s foreign affairs ministry, tweeted “The French and British parliaments legalized homosexual marriage which reduces the chances of these countries’ citizens adopting Russian youths.”

Dolgov praised opponents—primarily Catholics and activists of the UMP party--of the French initiative last week, by tweeting, “Christian values are alive and well even in the context of Western neoliberalism.”

These tweets come a few weeks after the lower house of the Russian Parliament passed a bill that aimed to make “homosexual propaganda aimed at minors” illegal—a law that attempted to prosecute singer Madonna after she criticized the law during her concert in St. Petersburg. Moreover, spokespeople for the lower house of the Russian Parliament hinted that the country might react unfavorably to the passing of homosexual marriage. 

On Monday, the Kremlin’s delegate for child rights, PavelAstakhov, stated that “French homosexuals will not have our children.”

In December, Russia refused to allow the adoption of Russian children by US citizens in reprisal for a Congress travel ban on Russian officials accused of gay rights violations. 

On Tuesday, the British parliament legalized gay marriage with a percentage of the ruling Conservative Party voting against the measure. And although the French parliament has passed the first key clause of its “marriage for all” bill, the UMP is attempting to carry out a campaign to suspend the passage of the law. 

When Socialist members of parliament heard the announcement that the Conservative-led British Parliament has passed a low supporting gay marriage rights, UMP members did all they could to distance themselves from the British right. 

Activist groups are criticizing Russia’s adoption threats--and the ban they placed on the United States in response to the passing of the Magnitsky Act—saying it denied prospective orphans, primarily those chronic illnesses or disabilities, the chance to find new homes. 

In response, Moscow claimed the ban as necessary because Russian children had been abused by their American adoptive parents, citing the case of DimaYakovlev, a Russian toddler who died in Virginia in 2008 after his adoptive father—who was cleared of charges—left him in a locked car for nine hours. 

Russian children’s rights organizations also claim that the definition of marriage is affirmed in their nation’s constitution through the words “man” and “woman.” This definition coupled with the child’s right to a mother and father is the Russian model for refusing adoption rights to nation’s whom employ gay marriage equality measures.