Russia moves to ban adoptions from countries that allow gender change
Al Jazeera
Parliament’s lower house backs measure and says it was aimed at upholding the ‘traditional values’ of the country.
Russia’s parliament has given its initial backing to legislation that would ban nationals from countries that allow people to change their gender from adopting Russian children.
The legislature said on Wednesday that the move was essential to uphold the country’s “traditional values” as lawmakers voted almost unanimously to back the proposed law in a first reading, with 397 in favour and one against.
The bill would ban citizens of countries that authorise “the change of sex by medical intervention, including with the use of medicine”, or allow individuals to change their gender on official identity documents.
Russia last year introduced a ban on people legally or medically changing their gender, part of a widening crackdown on LGBTQ rights.
The recent legislation on adoption, which had already been conceptually approved by the government, won the backing of the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, in the first of three readings.
