Being Transgender in Russia

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Available Summary:

"In July 2023, Russia passed a new law banning transition for transgender people - they can no longer get medical help or change their documents. Then, in November 2023, the international LGBT movement was legally defined as an "extremist organisation" by Russia's Supreme Court.

"BBC News Russian interviewed two transgender people from Russia, for whom leaving the country was a matter of safety.

"Ada, a young trans woman, says a close relative tricked her into so-called conversion therapy in a remote village in Siberia. She claims she spent nine months there and was forced to do manual labour and participate in activities, such as castrating pigs, intended to humiliate her. By the time she escaped, Russia had changed - the invasion of Ukraine had begun, and a new anti-LGBT law was about to be passed. She stayed in Russia for as long as she could helping other transgender people, but, eventually, she felt she had to leave because of the "extremist" law.

"Francis, a middle-aged trans man, left Russia because, he says, the state threatened to take away his children. In 2017 he underwent a mastectomy, which attracted the attention of the child protection services. As a result, two of Francis's adopted children were taken away from the family. He says he began to receive threats that the authorities would terminate his parental rights to his other three biological children." -YouTube.