Legislating Values

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Russia’s lower house of parliament on Wednesday approved the first reading of a bill that would ban the adoption of Russian children by citizens from countries that allow gender transition, the latest effort by the government to promote and protect “traditional family values,” Radio Free Europe reported.

Under the ban, parents from countries where gender transitioning is legal, including a number of Western nations, such as Canada, Austria, Spain and Switzerland, won’t be eligible to adopt Russian children.

The proposed law comes a year after Russia banned surgical operations “aimed at changing the sex of a person” and the changing of gender on documents. Separately, the country’s supreme court also ruled in favor of a ban of the non-existent “International Public LGBT Movement” in November 2023.

Meanwhile, the bill is the latest in a series of legislation targeting the LGBTQ community that has taken effect in the past year.

In July 2023, President Vladimir Putin – who portrays himself as a champion of what he describes as traditional values – signed into law a ban on gender-reassignment surgery and hormone therapy done as part of the gender transition process.

That same year, other legislation targeting “Western anti-family ideology” voided marriages if one partner had “changed gender”, and prohibited transgender individuals from adopting children.

Along with Wednesday’s ban, lawmakers are also discussing a proposal to criminalize individuals promoting a “child-free” lifestyle, Newsweek wrote. The draft law is aimed at “preserving and strengthening Russian spiritual and moral values.”

Some lawmakers warned of groups on social media promoting a “child-free” lifestyle that disrespect parenthood and undermine the family, which they consider as the “basis of a strong state.”

Penalties for violating the law include fines of up to $4,300 for individuals, more than $8,600 for state officials, and at least $53,700 for companies.

However, critics described the law as dystopian and expressed concern about further state control over personal choices, such as the government introducing a “tax on childlessness” or penalties for infertility.

Observers noted that the bills and initiatives by Russian authorities to uphold “traditional family values” are really an effort to encourage citizens to have more children.

Russia’s birth rate has dropped to its lowest level in 25 years, exacerbated by casualties from the war in Ukraine and emigration.