SVT has previously told about the new law, which means a ban on both genital surgery, hormone treatments and changing one’s gender identity.
Since then, the text of the law has been tightened and it now also contains a ban on transgender people adopting children and entering into marriage. Transgender people who have already married will have their marriages annulled.
– If we only adopt laws similar to those in Europe, we will have nothing left except Sodom and you know how it will end, Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said to the listening members.
“These people don’t disappear”
Plastic surgeon Andrej Istranov treats trans people at his private clinic in Moscow. He believes that one effect of the new law will be that an underground market for hormone treatments will grow.
– Patients will acquire drugs used for other diseases and treat themselves in different ways. The law will not make these people disappear, they will just be left without medical help, Istranov told Reuters.
Istranov also claims to have noticed that the demand for genital surgery has increased since the law began to be discussed.
– Those who haven’t thought about having surgery in the next five or ten years, under the threat that everything will now be banned and with the realization that they can never get the help they need in this country, have actively started preparing for surgery and came to us for advice.
Feared to lead to more suicides
Organizations that work to support Russian transgender people believe that the new law will lead to an increased number of suicides among transgender people. The Russian Ministry of Health has warned of the same thing. However, there was nothing to prevent Duma members from unanimously voting for the ban on Friday in a third and final round.
For the law to be finally adopted, it must be signed by Putin.