Ikea Removes Lesbians From Its Russian Catalog

The unfortunate birthplace of your entire bedroom set, Ikea, has removed a feature about a lesbian couple from the Russian edition of its magazine. Sound familiar? However, this time Ikea is saying they preemptively removed the couple to comply with the Russian ban on “homsexual propaganda”.

The Guardian reports:

The December issue of the magazine, which will be distributed in most countries in which Ikea operates, contains a long feature about the lives of Clara and Kirsty, a Dorset-based lesbian couple and their Ikea-filled interiors. “We’re two mums bringing up our baby boy in Clara’s loft,” says Kirsty in the story. “We’re not your average family in your average home, but if my nan can raise two sons in a tiny caravan, we can make it work in our little loft.

Russian Ikea shoppers, however, will be shielded from information about the lives of the two British lesbians, in case it is deemed to fall foul of the country’s controversial new law banning “homosexual propaganda”.

However, gay rights activists are firing back, saying there was no need to pull it before anyone in Russia said anything — especially consider that the law is so vaguely worded. Plus, they think Ikea needs to grow some tits and stand up for what’s right. “Ikea should stop insulting their LGBT customers in Russia and around the world, show some backbone, and publish the story in Russian,” said Joseph Huff-Hannon, co-editor of the forthcoming book Gay Propaganda: Russian Love Stories and the organizer of a protest at a Brooklyn Ikea.

An Ikea spokeswoman told Sweden’s Aftonbladet newspaper that “We have two guiding principles in the communication we distribute from Ikea. The first is home interior design. The second is following the law.” Perhaps a third could be: making sure not to offend anyone even if they are wrong and hateful. Allegedly.