Russian President Vladimir Putin has
signed a bill into law that targets the transgender community.
The law bans any “medical
interventions aimed at changing the sex of a person,” the AP
reported.
It also prohibits transgender people
from altering their gender on official documents. The law further
marginalizes transgender people by prohibiting them from becoming
foster or adoptive parents and nullifying marriages in which one
person has “changed gender.”
In supporting the measure, lawmakers
have portrayed transgender identity as a “Western anti-family
ideology.”
In 2013, Russia approved a “gay
propaganda” law that allowed the government to crack down on public
support for LGBTQ rights. A ban on same-sex marriage was approved in
2020.
After the start of Russia's invasion of
Ukraine, lawmakers approved a measure that bans the “propaganda”
of “nontraditional sexual relations” – effectively removing any
mention of LGBTQ people in movies, books, or media.