Russian legislators are targeting transgender people. It's the latest move that copies GOP talking points from the US

• Russian legislators are targeting transgender people in a move that mirrors US GOP politics.
• A new bill in Moscow would ban gender affirming care for any reason other than birth defects.

A new Russian bill could ban transgender healthcare in the country, a move that mirrors legislation being proposed and enacted by Republican lawmakers across the United States.

The bill, put forward on Tuesday, would ban gender-affirming surgeries and care, according to Russian state media outlet TASS.

The only exception to the legislation is birth abnormalities, but even those procedures will require "a decision from a medical commission of a federal state-run public health institution" that has been pre-approved by the government, TASS reported, citing the bill.

The legislation would also ban public records offices from accepting gender-affirmation certificates from medical organizations, meaning no changes can be made to a person's gender listed on official documents.

The bill is similar to anti-trans legislation that has been introduced by Republican lawmakers across the US in 2023. Seventy-eight bills targeting transgender care have passed this year, while 373 bills are currently being actively considered, according to Trans Legislation Tracker.

Trans people in Russia have been able to change their registered sex on documents such as passports and receive gender-affirming care since 1997, although there are obstacles in the process, The Council for Global Equality said.

Under Russian President Vladimir Putin, strict discrimination laws have targeted LGBTQ+ expression. According to Human Rights Watch, a 2022 expansion to anti-LGBTQ+ legislation banned the sharing of information about or public display of non-heterosexual orientations or lifestyles. Another law passed in 2022, named the "Answer to Blinken" law after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken criticized it, prohibited any promotion of homosexuality in media and on the internet, according to BBC News.

In recent months, Putin has echoed sentiments often heard from right-wing American politicians. Late last year, he went on a nonsensical rant against "cancel culture" during a commentary on Russian foreign policy, criticizing the West for enacting "basically a cancellation of culture that annihilates everything that is alive and creative."

He also adopted GOP talking points on the January 6, 2021, riot at the US Capitol, calling rioters "not looters or thieves" and criticizing the "very harsh charges" they received, according to MSNBC.

Putin's even taken a stand on the author JK Rowling, who has received backlash for her anti-transgender views, according to The Guardian.