The State Duma (the lower house of Russia’s parliament) on July 14 ratified the third and final reading of draft legislation banning medical procedures for the purpose of gender reassignment.
Once parliament’s upper house endorses the measure, it will be referred to President Vladimir Putin for final approval, after which it will become law.
If enacted, the legislation will outlaw all medical procedures, including the use of pharmaceutical drugs, aimed at “changing a person’s sex.”
The proposed ban wouldn’t apply to procedures that seek to treat birth defects, congenital anomalies, or genetic diseases.
The law would also prohibit citizens from changing their gender on official documents. It would also ban those who have changed their gender from adopting children and allow people to file for divorce if their spouse has changed his or her gender.
The bill was jointly submitted by Assembly Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin and the heads of all five party factions in the State Duma.
These include Mr. Putin’s ruling United Russia party, which holds 321 of the assembly’s 450 seats.
Speaking on Telegram, Mr. Volodin said the bill was aimed at “protecting our citizens and children.”
He went on to describe the notion of gender reassignment as a “path to the degeneration of the nation.”
According to Russia’s TASS news agency, the Duma also approved a resolution calling on the government to classify “disorders” pertaining to sexual preference—including transsexuality, transvestitism, and pedophilia—as “diseases.”
When asked to comment on the pending legislation, a U.S. State Department spokesperson said the United States “firmly opposes discrimination and abuses against LGBT persons.”
Law Follows ‘Gay Propaganda’ Ban
Late last year, Russia drew the ire of Western officials when it enacted a law prohibiting what it described as “LGBT propaganda.” Under that legislation, perceived attempts to promote homosexuality—in public, online, or in films, books, and advertising—were made punishable by financial penalties.The law has reportedly since been invoked to ban “gay pride” marches in Russia and detain pro-LGBT activists.
At the time, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken described the legislation as a “blow to freedom of expression.” He also urged Russian lawmakers to reject the bill and “respect the human rights and dignity of all.”
Following criticisms by the United States and other Western officials, Russia’s embassy in Washington decried what it called “attempts by Western states, led by the United States, to impose pseudo-liberal and perverted ideas about human rights on other countries.”
It went on to demand that Washington “respect the choice of our people to adhere to moral guidelines that are passed down from generation to generation and are the basis of Russian civic identity.”
The law expanded on earlier legislation, first enacted in 2013, banning perceived LGBT propaganda seen to be specifically targeting children.
In October 2022, video-sharing app TikTok was fined 3 million rubles (about $33,000) by the Russian authorities for promoting what were described as “videos containing LGBT themes.”
When the first law was passed a decade ago, Victoria Nuland, then serving as State Department spokeswoman, said it would “severely restrict freedom of expression and assembly for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals, and for all Russians.”
‘Strange, Trendy Ideas’
Mr. Putin has frequently said that the LGBT movement, including notions of “gender fluidity,” conflicts with traditional Russian values.On several occasions, he has claimed that such notions were evidence of “moral decay,” accusing the West of imposing “alien ideologies” on the rest of the world.
“If Western elites believe they can have their people ... embrace what I believe are strange and trendy ideas, like dozens of genders or gay pride parades, so be it,” Mr. Putin said in November 2022.
“But they certainly have no right to tell others to follow in their steps.”
