Russian MPs passed a law on Friday to ban gender transitions and, in particular, outlaw child adoptions by transgender people, in the midst of an ultra-conservative shift since the start of its war in Ukraine.
"This decision protects our citizens, our children," Vyacheslav Volodin, the speaker of the lower house of the Russian parliament (Duma), assured on Telegram.
Changes to civil status, surgical operations and hormone treatments had become accessible in Russia after the fall of the USSR. But since its invasion of Ukraine, authorities have stepped up conservative rhetoric, particularly against the LGBTQ+ community, saying they want to eliminate behaviour they consider deviant and imported from the West.
The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) even arrested a transgender activist on Thursday on charges of "high treason" for supporting Ukraine. He faces life imprisonment.
'A monstrous trend'
To justify the bill, Vyacheslav Volodin claimed on Friday that gender reassignment surgery had exploded in the United States over the last ten years. "What a monstrous trend! This is a path that leads to the degeneration of a nation. It is unacceptable to us," said Volodin.
The bill has passed its third and final reading. It must now be validated by the upper house of parliament, the Council of the Federation, and then signed by President Vladimir Putin to enter into force – two steps that are usually mere formalities.
In a statement issued on Friday, the Duma said that the text prohibits "any medical intervention" for gender reassignment, including surgery and hormone therapy. Changing gender designation on identity documents will also be banned.
Medical exceptions, by decision of a special commission, will be possible in cases of "congenital abnormalities" in children or genetic or endocrine diseases, the Duma says.
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Transgender people will also be banned from having custody of or adopting children in Russia. Finally, marriages involving a transgender person will be "annulled" after the law comes into force, the Duma says.
Since 2013, a law has prohibited "propaganda" of "non-traditional sexual relations" in Russia, a text denounced by NGOs as an instrument to repress LGBTQ+ people.
In December, the application of this law was considerably broadened. It now bans LGBTQ+ "propaganda" aimed at all audiences, whereas previously it only concerned minors.
