Yulia Alyoshina, Russia’s first transgender politician, has abandoned a bid for governor of the Altai region, ABC reported Friday.
Alyoshina, who was running as a member of the Civil Initiative party, said he intended to use his position in government to campaign for LGBT rights. Now, he says a new law in the country restricting sex changes made that an impossibility. (RELATED: Judge Blocks Dem Governor From Allowing Trans People To Change Gender On Driver’s License)
Alyoshina said the bill eroded support needed to register his candidacy, as he fell short of the 502 signatures needed. Nineteen council members “were unequivocally ready to put their signatures in support of my nomination,” the former candidate claimed, but others cited the bill as their reason to withdraw their support, ABC noted.
“They told me: ’How can we publicly support a transgender person if the State Duma prohibits transgender people in Russia?'” Alyoshina said, according to The Moscow Times.
“[Municipal deputies] told me: ’How can we publicly support a transgender person if the State Duma prohibits transgender people in Russia?” Yulia Alyoshina said. https://t.co/0hXalLx28Z
— The Moscow Times (@MoscowTimes) July 10, 2023
“By putting our signatures in your support, we will go against the country’s policy, and we have families and children, we don’t want to fall under repression,” municipal deputies said, per the outlet.
Russian lawmakers moved to ban sex change surgeries in the country in June, as Russian president Vladimir Putin voiced opposition to “non-traditional lifestyles,” according to Reuters. The legislation bans state agencies from changing someone’s gender on legal documents as well as medical interventions “aimed at shaping a person’s primary and secondary sex characteristics.”