Russian President Vladimir Putin signed new laws Monday which marked the ultimate step in outlawing gender-affirming procedures, a crippling blow to Russia’s already embattled LGBTQ+ neighborhood.
The invoice, which was authorized unanimously by each homes of parliament, bans any “medical interventions aimed at changing the sex of a person,” in addition to altering one’s gender in official paperwork and public data. The solely exception might be medical intervention to deal with congenital anomalies.
It additionally annuls marriages wherein one individual has “changed gender” and bars transgender individuals from turning into foster or adoptive dad and mom.
The ban is claimed to stem from the Kremlin’s campaign to guard what it views because the nation’s “traditional values.” Lawmakers say the laws is to safeguard Russia in opposition to “Western anti-family ideology,” with some describing gender transitioning as “pure satanism.”
Russia’s crackdown on LGBTQ+ individuals began a decade in the past when Putin first proclaimed a deal with “traditional family values,” supported by the Russian Orthodox Church.
In 2013, the Kremlin adopted laws that banned any public endorsement of “nontraditional sexual relations” amongst minors. In 2020, Putin pushed via constitutional reform that outlawed same-sex marriage, and final 12 months signed a regulation banning “propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations” amongst adults as effectively.