ST. PETERSBURG, July 29 (RIA Novosti) – Signatures are being gathered for a petition to the White House to impose US visa bans on two Russian lawmakers who, the plea says, were personally responsible for the country's laws against promoting homosexuality.

The petition, initiated on Friday on WhiteHouse.gov, seeks to ban St. Petersburg parliamentarian Vitaly Milonov, as well as the head of the children’s issues committee in Russia’s lower house of parliament, Yelena Mizulina.

According to the petition, which has gathered more than 400 signatures in the past few days, Mizulina was “responsible for the federal law banning gay ‘propaganda’ to minors and for the law banning foreign adoptions of Russian orphans by gays and lesbians.”

Milonov, the petition says, was “responsible” for a citywide ban on promoting homosexuality. If the petition gets 100,000 signatures by August 25, the website says, it will be considered by the administration of US President Barack Obama.

Milonov told RIA Novosti that he was not worried about the petition: “I get word of such things from time to time. I absolutely don’t get nervous about this subject.”

“Having spoken with many American politicians, I understand that they support the stance I’ve taken on this issue,” he added. “Such support has also been expressed to me by several members of German parliament.”