The Russian Duma approves a law to ban sex reassignment surgeries

The project prevents name changes in the Civil Registry and vetoes the adoption of people subjected to these interventions

July 14 () –

The Russian State Duma has approved this Friday a bill that prohibits sex reassignment surgeries, in a new setback for the LGBTI community in the country, which has suffered in recent years a deepening of conservatism, accelerated after the outbreak of the invasion of Ukraine.

The project, which is entitled ‘On the fundamentals of the protection of the health of citizens in the Russian Federation’, was presented at the end of May by a group of almost 400 deputies from different political formations.

The document includes an article that prohibits the change of sex of a person, with the exception of surgical interventions aimed at treating congenital anomalies in children, which could be approved after the approval by a medical commission.

However, the clauses do not apply to people who have already undergone sex change surgery before the law came into force. Likewise, it prevents a citizen from changing her name in the Civil Registry based on a medical certificate of sex reassignment issued by a doctor.

On the other hand, the new legislation, which still needs to be ratified by the president, Vladimir Putin, prevents adoption for people who have undergone an operation of this type, according to the Russian news agency Interfax.

The latest measures approved by the Russian Duma against the LGTBI community have been harshly criticized by Human Rights organizations, which have warned of a reinforcement of conservative positions in Russia taking advantage of the war in Ukraine.