Moscow — On Tuesday, the lower house of Russia’s parliament completed the final reading of a legislative proposal aimed at prohibiting the adoption of Russian children by individuals from countries where gender transition is legally permitted.

The bill is set to move to the upper house of parliament and, pending approval, will be presented to President Vladimir Putin for his endorsement to become law.

This action is part of a broader series of legislative measures in recent years aimed at limiting expressions of non-traditional sexuality.

Speaker of the State Duma, Vyacheslav Volodin, who is behind the proposal, expressed on the Telegram messaging platform that it is crucial to remove any potential risks that adopted children might encounter in nations that recognize gender reassignment.

Volodin noted that the law would target at least 15 nations, primarily located in Europe but also including Australia, Argentina, and Canada.

It is worth mentioning that the adoption of Russian minors by American citizens has already been banned since 2012.

In recent years, both Putin and other senior officials have increasingly emphasized the importance of upholding what they term “traditional values” as a reaction against Western liberalism, which they often describe as morally corrupt.

In 2022, Russia enacted a ban on medical procedures for gender transitioning, and the country’s Supreme Court classified the LGBTQ+ movement as extremist.

Additionally, last year, a law was signed prohibiting the dissemination of LGBTQ+ related information to individuals of all ages, this expanding a previous restriction from 2013 that only applied to minors.

Furthermore, parliament is currently evaluating another proposal that would criminalize any form of “propaganda” that dissuades people from having children.