Russian parliament bans gender reassignment surgery for trans people

Russia's little location of parliament has passed a caller instrumentality banning sex reassignment surgery, successful the latest onslaught connected LGBT rights successful the country.

The State Duma approved the bill, which volition besides prohibition radical changing their genders connected authorities documents, connected Friday.

It present needs support from the precocious location and President Vladimir Putin, moves usually seen arsenic formalities.

Speaker of the Duma, Vyacheslav Volodin, said the measure would "protect our citizens and our children".

In a telegram station connected Friday, Mr Volodin besides called gender-affirming country a "path to the degeneration of the nation".

"We are the lone European state that opposes each that is happening successful the States, successful Europe and does everything to prevention families and accepted values," helium said during the statement connected Friday. "And we request to recognize that determination won't beryllium immoderate aboriginal if we don't follow the law, if we don't prohibition sex change."

Fresh amendments added to the measure connected Friday during its last speechmaking included banning individuals who person undergone sex changes from adopting children, and annulling marriages wherever 1 enactment had undergone sex reassignment.

LGBT rights groups said the authorities would person a superior interaction connected the wellness of radical denied entree to care.

"I deliberation this is an perfectly fascist law, which deprives radical of aesculapian attraction and immoderate basal quality rights," said Yan Dvorkin, caput of the Center T organisation which provides enactment for Russian transgender people.

"It is precise hard psychologically for radical to beryllium worrying that the authorities mightiness designate you arsenic an force of the radical and deprive you of rights, deprive you of immoderate assistance, and leaves you successful a lawless state."

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov sought to disregard the concerns, telling reports successful Moscow that immoderate of the issues raised by activists against the measure were "perhaps excessive".

But Yulia Alyoshina, Russia's lone openly trans politician, accused the authorities of trying to "repress this tiny group, which is already discriminated against and stigmatised".

According to the Russian interior ministry, 2,990 radical legally changed sex betwixt 2016 and 2022. The state has a colonisation of 146 million.

Under the legislation, immoderate nationalist look oregon portrayal of LGBT civilization was outlawed successful nationalist spaces. Individuals tin beryllium fined up to 400,000 roubles (£5,400) and organisations 5m roubles (£68,500) for "propagandising non-traditional intersexual relations".

In caller years the Russia has seen the Orthodox Church and the authorities participate into an progressively almighty alliance, with the authorities pushing the church's blimpish societal outlook.

President Putin himself has said LGBT lifestyles tally antagonistic to accepted Russian values and helium has repeatedly railed against trans rights.

The latest onslaught comes conscionable a time aft Russia's interior information service, the FSB, announced that it had arrested a transgender rights activistic connected charges of treason for supporting Ukraine.

In footage carried by the state-run RIA Novosti quality agency, the antheral was seen being slammed into a partition by equipped officers clad successful tactical gear, earlier being driven distant successful a van.

The bureau alleged helium had donated to OVD-info, a quality rights monitoring organisation banned successful Russian successful 2021 nether its overseas agents laws.