Russian politicians have adopted a bill outlawing gender-reassignment procedures amid the Kremlin’s push to protect what it views as the country’s “traditional values”.
The toughened version of the bill was passed unanimously on Friday in its third and final reading in Russia’s lower house of parliament, the State Duma.
The bill bans any “medical interventions aimed at changing the sex of a person,” as well as changing one’s gender in official documents and public records.
According to Al Jazeera, the only exception will be medical intervention to treat congenital anomalies.
In its second reading on Thursday, clauses were added that annul marriages in which one person has “changed gender” and bar transgender people from becoming foster or adoptive parents.
The bill must be passed by the Federation Council, Russia’s Kremlin-controlled upper chamber that generally rubber-stamps legislation that the Duma has approved, before being signed into law by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
