The Russian Duma has voted through a law that will make it impossible for Russian transgender people to undergo gender reassignment. The law also prohibits genital surgery, hormone treatments and changing the legal gender in the passport. The organization Vyzhod has long worked to support Russian transgender people in various ways, and there they are now worried about the consequences of the law.
– Already today, many trans people feel bad. According to various surveys, the suicide rate is between twelve and 20 percent, and around 40 percent have thought about taking their own life at some point. These are terrible numbers and we are afraid that more people will take their lives if this law is finally adopted, says Nef Cellarius at Vychod.
A stigmatized group
The law has so far only been voted through in the first round, and two further votes are required for it to be finally adopted. At Vyzhod, however, we are convinced that it will become a reality.
Russian trans people are a stigmatized group. For example, only half have a fixed income. And since it is expensive to undergo all the treatments to correct one’s gender, many have waited.
Many have gone into exile
But Russia’s war in Ukraine seems to have caused some to rush to make a move on the matter. Figures from the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs show that 936 people last year received new passports for changing their gender identity, writes the independent Russian news site Mediazona. The corresponding figure for 2021 was 554 people and 428 people in 2020.
On Vyzhod, the increase is linked, at least in part, to the large-scale invasion that began in February 2022.
– It’s probably not so much about fear of being mobilized, but rather that many people were afraid that the thumb screws would be tightened further, not least for LGBTQI people. The war became a signal that this regime has no barriers, says Nef Cellarius.
In the clip above, Nef Cellarius tells more about what consequences the new law is expected to have for Russian transgender people.