Russia Banned People With 'Gender Identity Disorders' From Driving
Wikimedia CommonsRussia has banned people with "gender identity disorders" from driving, which was first reported by BBC.
A new decree signed on December 29 by Prime Minister Dimitry Medvedev delineates the conditions that disqualify people from driving, which implicitly includes people with "gender identity disorders" - a category which includes transgender and transsexual people.
For the most part, the conditions that disqualify people from driving listed in the decree are straightforward, including a long list of medical issues such as foot deformities.
But there is also an iffy section on "Mental and Behavioral disorders," which explicitly includes disorders such as schizophrenia, and implicitly bans people with "gender identity disorders" from driving.
The decree defines the "Mental and Behavioral disorders" issues by the "???-10" - the World Health Organization's "ICD-10 Classification of Mental and Behavioral Disorders.
Under that classification is "gender identity disorders" which includes the following:
- Transsexualism
- Dual-role transvestism
- Gender identity disorder of childhood
- Other gender identity disorders
As well as "disorders of sexual preference" which includes:
- Fetishism
- Exhibitionism
- Voyeurism
- Pedophilia
- Sadomasochism
and much more.
One person familiar with the matter told Business Insider that the decree is "vague," but others are more concerned.
"The Association of Russian Lawyers for Human Rights called the new law 'discriminatory.' It said it would demand clarifications from the Russian Constitutional Court and seek support from international human rights organisations," reports the BBC.
Additionally, Valery Evtushenko at the Russian Psychiatric Association told the BBC that he's worried that people will avoid seeking psychiatric help so that they can still drive, in light of this decree.
Russia sees a high number of road accidents per year, and this decree was passed in an attempt to decrease that number.
As a result, some people - including the Professional Drivers Union - support the new decree, according to BBC.