Putin Officially Bans Same-Sex Marriage In Russia And Stops Trans People Adopting

Russian President Vladimir Putin has put a ban on same-sex marriage and transgender adoptions, in a huge blow for LGBT+ rights.

Putin officially changed the country’s constitution on a number of issues earlier this week, following a national referendum in which 77% of people in Russia voted in favour of the ban in July 2020.

The new amendments mean same-sex couples will not be able to legally get married in Russia, because the country’s constitution now says that marriage can only exist between a man and a woman.

It also means that transgender members of the community will not be able to adopt.

As ‘Unilad’ reports, the anti-LGBT+ amendments are rooted in “a belief in God” within the country, in which many LGBT+ people choose to hide their true identity for their own safety.

Homosexuality was first decriminalised in Russia in 1917, before being re-criminalised in 1933 and then later legalised once more in 1993; however. homophobia remains rife in the country.

One of the politicians who supported the recent constitution changes, Pyotr Tolstoy, described his home country as being “a stronghold of traditionalism,” telling the Associated Press that Russia would not “repeat the mistakes that exist in the West”.

He added: "These mistakes, in my opinion, are fundamental, when certain people — the LGBT community or certain race groups — are being given additional, special rights. More rights than the majority.”

Elsewhere in the constitution change, Putin managed to slip in a reset on his own term limits as president, meaning he can now serve an extra two six-year terms, despite his current term being due to end in 2024.

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