Vladimir Putin signs law banning gender reassignments in Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a bill banning legal recognition of transgender people and banning gender-affirming surgeries and services on Monday, according to Russian media reports since July 25.

Under the new law, “medical interventions aimed at changing a person’s sex” and “state registration of gender change without surgery” were criminalized. The Moscow Times mentionted.

The law also prohibits post-op transsexuals from adopting children and invalidates post-op transsexual marriages.

The law was passed unanimously by both houses of the Russian parliament.

The new bans are said to be a reaction to “Western anti-family ideology” and a restoration of “traditional values”, according to The guardian.

The history of Russian anti-LGBTQ action

Russia previously said it planned to build a village for Americans and Canadians who wish to escape liberalism and Western gender ideology.

“The reason is to encourage radical values: Today they have 70 genders and it is unknown what will happen next,” explained Timur Beslangurov as the rationale behind the project proposal at the time.

Last year, Russia banned the “propaganda” of LGBTQ+ relationships in public life and the media.

Impact of policy on LGBT individuals and communities

“The way these people see their future is falling apart,” Yan Dvorkin, head of Center-T, a group that helps transgender and non-binary people in Russia, said in an interview with The Moscow Times.

“For children and teenagers, this situation looks like absolute hopelessness,” Elle Solomina, a Russian transgender woman now living in Georgia, told Reuters before the Duma resumed consideration of the bill this week. “They won’t be able to get any help.”

Doctors have also warned that banning gender-affirming treatments would create a black market for hormone supplements and increase the risk of suicide for LGBTQ youth.

Reuters contributed to this report.