20th November 2024 – (Moscow) Russia’s upper house of parliament, the Federation Council, has approved a bill prohibiting the adoption of Russian children by citizens of countries where gender transitioning is legal. This legislation, passed on Wednesday, follows similar measures aimed at reinforcing traditional values while suppressing the rights of sexual minorities in the country.
The newly approved bills, which had earlier received approval from the lower house, will now be sent to President Vladimir Putin for final assent. Among the provisions is a ban that will affect at least 15 countries, primarily in Europe, but also including Australia, Argentina, and Canada. Notably, the adoption of Russian children by U.S. citizens has been prohibited since 2012.
The lower house speaker, Vyacheslav Volodin, one of the bill’s authors, emphasised the necessity of the legislation, stating that it is vital to safeguard adopted children from potential dangers associated with gender reassignment in these nations.
In addition to the adoption ban, lawmakers have also passed bills that outlaw what they term propaganda promoting a child-free lifestyle, imposing fines of up to 5 million rubles (approximately $50,000) for offenders. Proponents argue that such narratives are part of a broader Western agenda aimed at undermining Russia by encouraging population decline.
In recent years, Putin and other senior officials have increasingly called for adherence to traditional values as a countermeasure to Western liberalism. Amidst a declining population, Putin has advocated for larger families, even suggesting that women should consider having as many as eight children.
The legislative actions come on the heels of Russia’s previous bans on gender-transition medical procedures and the Supreme Court’s designation of the LGBTQ+ movement as extremist. Additionally, in 2022, Putin signed a law prohibiting the dissemination of LGBTQ+ information to individuals of all ages, further expanding a ban initially targeted at minors enacted in 2013.