(HorizonPost.com) – On Thursday, the lower house of the Russian State Duma unanimously approved the second draft of legislation that would ban transgender surgeries, Reuters reported.
The legislation would bar healthcare workers from performing medical procedures designed to change a person’s gender. However, the bill exempts surgeries on children to treat congenital anomalies.
Additionally, the proposed legislation will prevent individuals from changing their gender on government identity documents, prohibit transgenders from adopting children, and annul marriages when one spouse changes his or her gender.
Since 1997, Russia allowed gender changes on official IDs, but this legislation would reverse that.
Russian transgender activists have spoken out against the bill, warning that it would lead to a spike in suicides among so-called transgender teens and create a black market for hormone medications, Reuters reported on Wednesday.
The legislation is the latest step in Russia’s crackdown on the LGBT movement, which Russian President Vladimir Putin cites as part of the West’s moral decay.
In December, Putin signed legislation that expanded existing restrictions on promoting LGBT propaganda. The law effectively bans LGBT individuals from publicly expressing their lifestyle.
For years, Russia has enacted legislation designed to curtail the advancement of the LGBT movement in the country, including banning gay pride marches and detaining LGBT activists.
During the first reading of the latest bill last month, State Doma deputy chairman Pyotr Tolstoy maintained that the lower house is seeking to preserve Russia’s traditional foundations, culture, and family values for posterity.
The lower house is expected to vote on the third and final draft of the bill on Friday. If the final draft is approved, it will then move to the upper house for approval before it is signed into law by President Putin.
It is unknown how many Russians identify as transgender. On average, the number of transgender adults in other countries is about 0.5 percent of the population.
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