MOSCOW -- A controversial new law enacted in St. Petersburg and three other Russian regions, aimed at banning "homosexual propaganda aimed at minors," has members of Russia's besieged gay community worrying that all progress toward civil rights for sexual minorites in recent years might be thrown into reverse.

The law, signed last week by St. Petersburg Gov. Georgy Poltavchenko, would impose the equivalent of a $16,000 fine upon anyone "making public actions among minors for the propaganda of homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality or transgenderism (LGBT)." Similar laws have recently been enacted in the Russian regions of Ryazan, Archangelsk, and Kostroma.