Putin has decided to make queer and trans people scapegoats for his own failure as a leader. He has signed legislation that bans people from officially or medically changing their gender. It annuls marriages in which one person has transitioned and bars transgender people from becoming foster or adoptive parents.
Over at eX-twitter Jeannie the Gaywyck Owl 🏳️⚧️ has written a thorough and very helpful thread about what has happened and the reasons for it.
Yes, this is depressing reading, but given that transphobes all over the world is inspired by Putin’s bizarre traditionalist and violent fakery, we must learn from what is happening, and do whatever we can to help transgender people everywhere, including Russia. Putin is to blame for the war and the oppression, not the Russian LGBTQIA community.
Here are some extracts from the thread. You can read it all, with additional comments, here.
Jeannie the Gaywyck Owl 🏳️⚧️ writes:
//Okay, a lot of people asked for it, so here I go: Russian government is approving the biggest anti-trans law RIGHT NOW, featuring COMPLETE BAN of all documental and medical transition for trans and intersex people: A THREAD With great help of @TomoAyu13 and @aalien.
The previous pro-trans ID law
Let’s start a bit earlier: not so long ago, in 2018, Ministry of Justice approved new changes to medical laws made by the Ministry of Healthcare of Russia. It stated the new form of approval and procedure for issuing a gender change document by a medical organization.
Here’s the document itself: http://publication.pravo.gov.ru/Document/View/0001201801220016?index=0&rangeSize=1… The form itself allowed a lot of people to change their documents faster and more freely after they are approved by a medical commission, either governmental or private, and allowed trans people to transition easier.
Here’s Pravo Trans issue about this document: http://pravo-trans.eu/novaya-forma-spravki-chasto-zadavaemye-voprosy/… With the Note 087/y you were able to change your documents within a year since the date of issuing. If you used it only for gender affirming surgeries/HRT, you could come to commission again asking for reissue
For the first time in its existence, Russian Federation, despite having homophobic and transphobic tendencies since the day of forming, actually was the best country for fast and mostly easy documental and medical transition, especially great for people who wanted to go “stealth”
The transphobic tipping point
Back to 2023: after the news of lack of volunteers and armed forces in Ukraine, the flaming eye of State Duma is seeking for a scapegoat and a potential “living meat” solution for the front. After the “ban on LGBT propaganda” in late 2022, they came for trans women, men, enbies.
May 30, 2023. A draft law has been submitted to the State Duma establishing a complete ban on “medical interventions aimed at changing sex”, as well as “excluding state registration of sex change without surgery”.
The main authors were mrs. Muzulina who actually tried to give that law a chance way back in 2020 and was stopped by other fractions and protests of trans people, and mr. Volodin, the Chairman of State Duma. Let’s dig into it, shall we?
The content of the law proposal
I’ll try to translate it as close to the original as possible.
“Medical workers are prohibited from acting in medical interventions aimed at changing the sex of a person, including the formation of primary and/or secondary sexual characteristics of the other sex in a person”
“Medical interventions related to the treatment of congenital physiological anomalies of sex formation in children (aka intersex and birth anomalies) are allowed by decision of the medical commission of the the health institution the interventions are done in” Now let’s simplify:
These passages mean:
- complete ban on any medical interventions, including psychiatrists issuing 087/y and F64.0 by ICD v.10 “Transsexualism” (HA60 in International Classification of Diseases v.11), HRT prescriptions and all possible cosmetic and gender affirming surgeries;
- complete ban on any documental changes for a transgender person - you couldn’t change your gender marker in your ID. Ever. Need to inform that due to a complex documentary system Russia inherited from the USSR, you need to change your birth certificate first, passport second.
Due to having that documentary system, every Russian’s main ID is their passport, if they’re going abroad - add a separate “foreign passport” to in. Add to it your individual taxpayer number and social security number.
- this law draft also comes with all ban on gender reassignment surgeries, HRT and changes in gender marker for intersex people. If you’re born intersex and your doctor decides you’re a boy/girl - you couldn’t change ANYTHING when you’re hitting puberty or in your adult life.
Of course, after this law becomes reality, it’s basically governmental restriction of body autonomy. The main motivation for this law? “They’re mutilating children and doing it with America’s money” but also “they’re changing their gender to avoid special military operation”.
For reference: in 2020, due to “sex change” Russia issued 428 passports, in 2021 - 554 passports, in 2022 - 936 passports. The leaders in changing the gender marker were Moscow with the Moscow region and St. Petersburg with the Leningrad region. People are scared of you, Volodin.
Severe transphobia
Chairman of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation Alexander Bastrykin also spoke about anti-trans laws and is very supportive of them. He called men who decided to change sex “on paper” scammers:
“The change of sex on paper is a deception, fraud. If it’s a fraud, this deception violates the interests of the state, our defense capability. … We will act taking into account new realities”:
It was clear that President Putin with his response on “who are they, transformers?” is also not very fond of trans folk existing. May 30 was not a random date - it was right before June 1, The International Children’s Day (or “Day of Children’s Protection” from literal Russian).
Inspired by US right wing
Of course, after literally using the words of American pastors that Mrs. Mizulina and Co used in favor of their “anti-LGBT propaganda law”, they would cover with children - just like judicial society in Florida and other states of America who cleared the way for anti-trans laws.
After the May 30, the law was reconfigured into its current “max ban state” and then everything escalated quickly. June 12, The Day of Russia. State Duma announces that this law will go in hearings without any half-measures - it’s still a full blown ban.
June 13, evening. State Duma issues a note that the hearing will be “out of order because it’s an emergency case”. They’re speeding up the process. At the same time, this law is considered “adjustments” to an existing Federal Law 323 Paragraph 45 - ban on EUTHANASIA.
Before the hearings started, Russian-speaking trans and non-binary twitter users (especially @aalien) tried to gather publicity from the main figures of Russian opposition in emigration. It resulted into ban waves by some of them and bragging about “Putin is oppressing everyone”.
After days of trying to get the support from people who, as LGBT community in Russian thought, are seeking for “the great future Russia without Putin”, trans people started to realize that in this battle they’re the lone legion. The hearings are rushed and set to June 14.
Traditionalist “family values”
During the day another stone strikes - Mr. Vitaliy Milonov, famous for his “Orthodoxy or death” t-shirt and immense hate towards LGBT and whose laws about “ban on LGBT-propaganda towards children” later grew into ban on basically speaking about LGBT (even for LGBT themselves).
Of course, Mr. Milonov is a big fan of conservative families and “Domostroy” mindset. He said: “If the (anti-trans) bill is adopted in Russia, it may subsequently cancel the already issued certificates of sex change.” They’re willing to break marriages and people’s lives for it.
SOMEHOW, by his words, “the law will not be retroactive, but the cancellation of certificates can be worked out after the bill’s adoption”. How is that NOT retroactive - cancelling the documents for people who already live in their preferred gender - I can’t understand.
“This bill is an indicator of our attitude to these terrible things. And it’s not just about those who want to avoid military service. There can be no sex change in a normal society, because it’s anti-scientific, obscurantism”:
“I hope that we will be able to further work out this issue and all these fake certificates, which corrupt doctors and so-called psychologists issued about sex change, will be canceled.” He is the Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Family, Women and Children Affairs.
“If we recognize that sex change is an impossible phenomenon, respectively, those who tried to do it on paper will be, I hope, in a hanged-in-the-air position,” Milonov explained. “Emigrate or die trying, we don’t see you as equal citizens” is the “hanged-in-the-air position”.
Stigmatizing health personnel
Again, full pack of documents in Russian is accessible by the link: https://sozd.duma.gov.ru/bill/242098-8 (you might need Russian VPN to download the texts). Some citations from the explanatory note to this law draft: “Currently, there is already a developed sex change industry in Russia“
“It consists of unscrupulous doctors, psychologists, a developed network of LGBT organizations and activists, and other persons. They direct all their destructive activity to teenagers and young people”. So basically DeSantis words, but for “the big evil US gay lobby”.
“The Constitution of the Russian Federation enshrines norms on the preservation of traditional family values and the protection of the institution of marriage as a union of men and women.“ These changes were made in 2020 alongside with extending Putin’s ruling abilities.
Upholding the binary, endless lies
“The basic law of the country provides for only two sexes - men and women, no “intermediate” and “additional” variants of sex or “gender”, neither categories like “parent No. 1” and “parent No. 2” are acceptable, nor the possibility of “sex change”.” No comments.
Diving down:
After that, the explanatory note covers the existing laws about LGBT-propaganda and how trans people’s existence is basically propaganda. They lie about “the existing evidence of parents of affected and mutilated children” - the children are 20+ y. o. lads and lasses.
They lie about “sex change operations for children less then 14 y.o. in the US of A” and “medical commissions taking only several tens of minutes”. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, in the period from 2016 to 2022, 2,990 people applied for “sex change” in passports.
June 14 2023, the day of hearings, 1st hearing for full-blown ban on trans & intersex medical help and change of documents. “The worst thing is the corruption of children,” Mr. Volodin said at the plenary session. A lot of media claimed before that he’s a closed gay man himself.
In the United States, where these new pseudo-values are promoted, the share of transgender people among teenagers is already three times higher than among the adult population.” More lies, more covering of absolutely barbaric measures with “children”. But there’s more:
“The number of children receiving hormonal therapy has more than doubled in 5 years. They start pumping children with hormones at the age of 8. From 2017 to 2021, more than 2000 sex reassignment surgeries in children aged 13 to 17 years have been performed.” No statistics added.
More from the State Duma (lower house in parliament)
From this point, I’ll cover the citations that were saved by @Metroff4k3 from live translation on State Duma site: Minister of Health Care supported the bill, said they should have some high-level consiliums of federal institutions and about the need to improve the demography.
Deputy Ostanina began to stuble that he wanted to soften the law, she was shushed. Despite the words about corrections of organs on intersex children (they still want to ban it for people over 18), deputy Tolstoy says about restrictions and forming a list of “approved anomalies”.
Deputy Tolstoy yells that the law has no retroactive effect and that the figure of 2990 trans people changing their docs is growing exponentially, if the bill is not adopted, it will be 5000 next year. Laughter and noise can be heard in the background at the same time.
After that they recite to the claims of the Health Committee and Family Committee. You can read them via Google Translate in this post and links, this is the official position of State Duma deputies.
Ministry of Health Care tries to say that it will lead to waves of suicides and “black market of surgery and pharmacy” Chairman of the State Duma Volodin instructs to promptly finalize the initiative and submit the document to the lower house of parliament ASAP.
Attacking the Russian Ministry of Health for following the WHO health manual
“The initiative is supported by the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation, but the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation “have not yet decided.” In this regard, when considering the bill in the next reading, we will invite the leadership of the Ministry of Health”
“We need to find out why it is uncertain and why, when signing an agreement with WHO, they made a gross mistake that contradicts our Constitution and the values we must protect,” Volodin says. The “gross mistake” is signing the agreement about implementing ICD v.11 in Russia.
ICD-11 was presented in January 2019 and approved in May 2019. By it, F64.0 “Transgenderism” is no longer a psychic disability snuck in near schizophrenia and epilepsy. ICD-11 is working in Russia since January 1 2022, the transition period to new ICD has been extended until 2027
Mr. Volodin claims that “HRT and operations are blooming in other countries” and that “Europe and the USA are full with them, with complete sodomy”. “The man gets up in the morning, goes to buy a certificate in paid clinics,” he says.
“There are no psychiatrists and psychologists in the commissions - no one who would studied his condition… And then provides a document on the change of sex, surname, first name, patronymic.” Another lie. Every commission has a clinical psychologist, sexologist and psychiatrist.
Mr. Volodin says that the lower house of Duma would like the Ministry of Healthcare, preparing amendments to the law prohibiting sex change in Russia, not to invent changes “by caring for people”. According to him, the caring would be “forbiding all this debauchery.”
Did you see that? “Don’t you dare caring about people, simple governmental medical man, end with this and lay back. If they start killing themselves, well just make suicides illegal and shoot them for unaliving!” At this point it’s an absolute circus of horrors.
Preparing for conversion therapy
The Minister of Health noted that in addition to the said initiative, he is conducting research for conversion therapy. One deputy is concerned that people with a «a different perception» of their gender should be psychologically and psychiatrically «bred to reality» This is hell
“The Minister replied that work in this direction on behalf of the President is already underway, an appropriate institution is being created, where other “behavioral violations” and forms of antisocial behavior will be considered” So it’s back to electric chairs and haloperidol.
Connected to abortion ban
Vice-speaker Tolstoy concludes the meeting and appeals to the Minister of Health. The deputy asked the Ministry to consider banning abortion in commercial clinics and “take control of hormones for sex change, contraceptions and abortion”. THEY’RE ALREADY SPEAKING OF ABORTION BAN.
Before that, in March 2023, First Deputy Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Family, Women and Children Affairs pointed out the need to prohibit abortion for commercial clinics to make it easier for the state to monitor it. They want to “be there to help”, she says.
The vote is not anonymous, everybody’s advised to have their name shown near the vote. First reading, first hearing, ban of trans healthcare and documental transition - Duma agrees unanimously, 365 “yes” out of 369 deputies who signed the original draft (4 people didn’t show up).
IN CONCLUSION: The state ban on any medical help and change of documents for transgender and intersex people is in after the first hearing. Mr. Volodin says they’re gonna come to full sign and conclusion over the spring-summer sessions. That means trans people are now outlaws.
[This is what happened in July. The law has been accepted and signed by Putin. The main changes are that the final version of the law annuls marriages in which one person has transitioned and bars transgender people from becoming foster or adoptive parents. Added by Transgender World.]
PLEASE SHARE THIS THREAD EVERYWHERE YOU CAN. Show it to your mom, to your local liberal party chamber, news, streamers, everywhere. Help trans people of Russia to go through the medical commissions now, while we still have time - you can donate to @QueerSvit or @QueerSvitUK.
You can also donate to individual fundings of Russian trans people I retweet here. You can also donate to @gero444a and her initiative that helps queer refugees in Italy or to queer medias like @kvir_media who help covering this in mass media. Trans liberation now. Stay in touch.//
More comments here.
See also “Russia will ban everything for transgender and non-binary people, leading to an underground surgery market,” say human rights activists (The Insider)
