Russia continues to propose anti-LGBTQ+ legislations

Government officials in Russia have proposed another anti-LGBTQ+ bill, that will see transgender people being banned from having access to gender-affirming healthcare services.

If the legislation passes, it will also set out to forbid the changing of names and pronouns. Public records that accept gender-affirmation certificates from medical organisations, will no longer lead to the change of a person's name or gender on official documents.

Ultimately, if the bill is implemented, it will criminalise voluntary gender-affirming surgeries for transgender adults, however, operations on intersex children are still able to be carried out without their consent.

Deputy Petr Tolstoy, Chairman of the State Duma and Russian Politician, spoke of the new legislation: "We preserve Russia for posterity, with its cultural and family values, traditional foundations, putting up a barrier to the penetration of Western anti-family ideology."

Intersex children will continue to be subjected to medical adaptation in Russia. Being born intersex, defines children who have been born with both male and female genitalia.

Although the medical procedures, which aim to irreversibly "normalise" children's bodies, are not necessary to improve a person's health – they will continue to happen without the child's consent.

There are around one in 1,500 intersex children born each year in the US alone. A Human Rights Watch report states that about 1.7 per cent of people are born intersex, which is similar to the percentage of people who are born as twins.

Several people, who have been born intersex and have had the decision of their sex made for them, have grown to recognise that their assigned sex surgery was in fact the wrong decision.

These decisions, which have been made for the children, can sometimes lead to a struggle with identity from a young age. It is evident that the immediate gender affirmation surgeries have inherently led to a toll on their mental well-being.

A mental healthcare provider in Russia, told reporters: "The whole situation is just worsening. As of today, teachers and teachers-psychologists are not allowed to speak positively [on LGBT topics]."

Within the first 10 months of the Ukraine-Russia conflict, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an anti-LGBTQ+ bill that banned the use of 'gay propaganda'. The bill prohibits all the "promoting" or "praising" of homosexual relationships and the LGBTQ+ community in Russia. The authorities in Russia noted that 'gay propaganda' defines any content that shares homosexual relationships in the media, magazines, books, films and advertisements.

A Clinical Psychologist spoke out about the importance of equal rights, and allowing young people to discuss their sexualities and questions towards their gender/sex. The Psychologist said: "Teenagers often wait for me to ask a direct and precise question about his or her sexual orientation or gender identity, but the law prevents me from doing that."

So far this year, 78 bills that target transgender care have been passed. According to the Trans Legislation Tracker, there are currently 373 bills that target the trans community being considered worldwide.

The Global Parliamentary Report states that there are 46,553 MPs in the world. However, amongst those who are responsible for constructing legislation for their countries, in 2023 there are less than 100 people who represent the trans community involved in politics worldwide.

With much hostility towards the West, Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke out about the anti-LGBTQ+ acceptance in Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin declared: "Do we want to have here, in our country, in Russia, a parent number one, number two, number three instead of mum and dad?... Do we want perversions that lead to degradation and extinction to be imposed on children in our schools? To be drummed into them that besides women and men, there are supposedly some other genders? To be offered to undergo sex change surgery? We have a different future, our future."