Motivated by the fact that “the Western transgender industry is trying to penetrate our country as well”, 400 Russian deputies want to ban sex reassignment operations and hormone therapy. The initiative caused a heated discussion in the network.

At least 400 Russian members of the State Duma have signed a bill that prohibits any surgical interventions, as well as hormone therapy for the purpose of gender reassignment.

One of the initiators of the project, deputy Petro Tolstoy, former host of the main Russian television channel “First Channel”, explained in his Telegram account that the regulatory act is necessary because “transgender industry from the West is trying to penetrate our country. also “.

Even if it is not relevant to the war with Ukraine, the topic is discussed by Russians on the Internet, including in the comments section of the few portals in the country that still allow it. I have collected some opinions, some agree with the legislative initiative, others treat it with irony.

The initiator of the law: “Let’s save Russia for posterity”

The author of the draft law on banning gender reassignment operations claims that deputies of the “inter-factional group for the protection of Christian values” and State Duma President Vyacheslav Volodin made a significant contribution to this initiative.

“Why are we doing this? We preserve for posterity Russia with its cultural and family values, with its ancient traditions, putting an obstacle to the penetration of Western anti-family ideology,” wrote Petro Tolstoy in his Telegram channel.

The bill caused a wave of discussion among Internet users. Many of them reacted with irony, given that their comments are published anonymously.

“It’s always nice to see the relevance of the affairs of the Boyar Duma.” And all because he acts according to the wise plan of the king-father. Only one question is unclear: if a strong Russian woman can no longer have children and wants to become a true defender of the Motherland and compensate for the losses of the liberators, what should she do? And who will add the necessary features, if any?” wrote one user.

“Thank God, we will finally get well!!! (but it’s not accurate),” said another Telegram user ironically.

“Now we’ll definitely beat everyone up…”, another mocked this initiative.

“What right do the authorities have to interfere in the personal sphere? If nature intervenes when a person is born and they have to figure out their gender identity, why should people suffer and be excluded from society?” , – wonders another person.

“It is necessary to ban piercings (except ears) and tattoos – they are manifestations of vulgarity that create a real danger to health!” – claims another user.

“Do we have specialists in this field? What kind of congenital anomalies are indications for doing something that apparently no one should do and has no experience with? What to do, for example, with Vova, who after a trip to Thailand became Veronica (no – this country is famous for the fact that gender reassignment operations are performed here)?”, another writes.

“People who think they are Napoleon or an owl are being treated in a hospital. They don’t pretend to be owls. It’s the same here. A man who wants to be a woman remains a man even after the operation. And a healthy man does not want to have a relationship with such a “woman,” another reader noted.

“Let the undecideds go to Gayrop (without ties to the European Union), they will not be outcasts there, they will definitely be among their own people,” another Internet commentator believes.

What are the side effects of this initiative?

The well-known publication meduza.io asked several questions about this initiative, analyzing the current legislation of the Russian Federation.

The problem arises from the fact that some operations, such as mastectomy (surgical removal of the breast gland), are also performed on people who have certain medical indications and do not seek gender reassignment.

The problem is that Russian legislation does not specify the reasons for breast removal.

The legal company “Faculty of Medical Law” draws attention to the fact that mastectomy is included in the section “surgical treatment” in the Nomenclature of medical services. That is, if a person has a high risk of breast cancer, they can undergo surgery, which is subject to the new regulatory act.

Theoretically, the situation could be saved by clinical recommendations or standards for the provision of medical care for the diagnosis of “transsexualism”.

However, Russia does not have such documents. In particular, the standard of providing medical care in outpatient settings is the same: according to this document, the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation recommends hormonal therapy, not surgical intervention.

Some human rights activists have criticized the bill, saying it could require people who want to change their gender to take “radical measures”.

“In Russia, it is very difficult to get permission for such an intervention. A person’s desire to change gender is not enough. The special examination was carried out in several stages. People have invested so much time in this process that if their desire were not mistaken, it would disappear.

For the most part, permission for such intervention was obtained by those who were unique in their kind. For such people, it is more than a psychological component. By adopting such a bill, there is a risk that a person will be deprived of access to high-quality specialized medical services,” Eva Merkacheva, a member of the Human Rights Council of Russia, told lenta.ru.

In the explanatory note of the project, it is stated that during 2016-2022, 2990 people applied for a passport replacement due to gender change.

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