Russian Duma passes law banning gender transition

The Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament, has passed a law banning gender transition in its third and final reading.

The law, writes Kommersant, was approved unanimously. Deputies also unanimously supported it in its first and second readings.

When the bill was taken up for the second reading, it was amended to prohibit people who have changed their gender markers from adopting children, as well as stipulating that marriages where one member has changed their gender markers would be annulled.

TASS reports that Russian Deputy Health Minister Oleg Salagai said that the Health Ministry would cancel its bylaws regulating gender transition.

The bill was originally introduced in the State Duma at the end of May. Deputies believe that it will “preserve Russia for posterity — with its cultural and family values, traditional patterns, putting up a barrier against the penetration of Western anti-family ideology.”