Russian parliament gives initial support for legislation that would ban citizens of countries that allow gender reassignment from adopting Russian children, reports "Reuters". According to the legislative body, this move is essential for the maintenance of "traditional values", quoted by News.bg.
Last year, Russia banned legal and medical gender reassignment as part of a widening crackdown on LGBT rights. Exceptions are made for medical reasons for children.
The adoption law, already conceptually approved by the government, won the support of the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, in the first of three readings. The authors present it as a measure aimed at protecting adopted Russian children from "potentially dangerous conditions" in NATO countries that support Ukraine in the war against Russia.
"This decision is aimed at protecting childhood and traditional values," Vyacheslav Volodin, speaker of the Duma and a close ally of President Vladimir Putin, said after the vote. "It is necessary to protect our children from the dangers they may face if they are adopted or raised by citizens of foreign countries where gender reassignment is permitted."