Moscow

Russian lawmakers in the lower house of parliament voted overwhelmingly in favour of new legislation on Friday that would make gender reassignment illegal, further reinforcing an ultra-Orthodox, anti-West campaign in society. “The State Duma has approved a ban on gender reassignment in Russia. The relevant changes to the law introduced by State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin and representatives of all factions were unanimously approved in the final version,” said a statement on the Duma’s website. was adopted.”

“This decision will protect our citizens and our children,” Volodin said in a separate statement on social media. The new law must be approved by the upper house of parliament and President Vladimir Putin before it can go into effect, a move seen as a formality in a country where lawmakers loyal to the Kremlin are loyal. The Duma statement said the new law would have wider consequences for Russian transgender people: “Citizens who have already changed gender will be banned from adopting children, and their marriages will be annulled.”

Since the start of its invasion of Ukraine, Russia has adopted a series of conservative measures, particularly against the LGBTQ community, aimed at cracking down on behaviours that authorities consider deviant and Western-influenced. Russia’s FSB security service announced earlier this week that it had arrested a transgender rights activist accused of “high treason” for supporting the Ukrainian military.