Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday signed into law a bill banning the adoption of Russian children by citizens of countries where gender transition is legal.
The Kremlin leader also approved legislation banning the distribution of material encouraging people not to have children.
The bills, which have already been approved by both houses of Russia’s parliament, follow a series of laws that suppressed sexual minorities and reinforced long-standing conventional values.
Speaker of the Russian Lower House Vyacheslav Volodin, who was among the authors of the new bill, said in an article on Telegram in July that “it is extremely important to eliminate possible dangers in the form of gender reassignment to which adopted children may face problems in these countries.
The adoption ban would apply to at least 15 countries, most in Europe, as well as Australia, Argentina and Canada. Adoption of Russian children by American citizens were banned in 2012.
Other bills approved Saturday ban what they describe as propaganda to stay childless and impose fines of up to 5 million rubles (about $50,000). Its supporters argued that public arguments against having children were part of alleged Western efforts to weaken Russia by encouraging population decline.
In recent years, Putin and other senior officials have increasingly called for respect for so-called traditional values to counter Western liberalism. As Russia’s population shrinks, Putin has made statements in support of large families and last year urged women to have up to eight children.
Last year, Russia banned gender transition medical procedures and its Supreme Court declared the LGBTQ+ “movement” extremist.
In 2022, Putin signed a law banning the dissemination of LGBTQ+ information to people of any ageexpanding a ban issued in 2013 on the distribution of such material to minors.
Since sending troops to Ukraine in February 2022, the Kremlin leader has repeatedly called the West “satanic” and accused it of trying to undermine Russia by exporting liberal ideologies.
Independent journalists, critics, activists and opposition figures in Russia have come under increasing pressure from the government in recent years, and this pressure has intensified significantly in the context of the conflict in Ukraine. Hundreds of non-governmental groups and individuals have been designated as “foreign agents” – a label that implies increased government surveillance and carries strong pejorative connotations.
