Russia votes to ban adoption for foreign gay couples Russia's lower house of parliament has voted unanimously in favour of a bill to ban the adoption of Russian orphans by same-sex couples, unmarried couples and single parents in countries where gay marriage is allowed. In its second reading in the Duma, the bill was voted through by 443 to none. We are not ready to give children away to countries, which cannot provide their security, which cannot guarantee their safety and which do not communicate enough with the Russian side so that we could control their living conditions - as it was in the case with the United States of America. As such we are absolutely against the adoption of Russian children by same-sex couples," declared Olga Batalina, Deputy Head of State Duma committee on family and children affairs. The vote comes just weeks after France became the 14th country worldwide to legalise same-sex marriage. Vladimir Putin responded by saying he would sign any bill banning adoption by gay couples abroad. The bill is expected to pass in a third reading in the upper house of Russian Parliament June 21, before it receives Putin's signature. Last week the Duma approved a bill banning promotion of what it classed "non-traditional" relationships. Though decriminalised in 1993, homosexuality remains an issue of deep prejudice for many Russians. More about: Gay rights, Russia