Russia’s first transgender woman politician forced out of politics by anti-LGBT legislation
Yulia Alyoshina, head of the Altay regional division of the Civic Initiative party, has announced that she is ending her political career, due to the prohibition of “LGBT propaganda” by Russia’s recently adopted legislation.
I’ve never engaged in any such propaganda, but I cannot imagine how to carry on with public political activity as a transgender woman,
Alyoshina wrote on her Telegram channel.
Alyoshina’s trans identity made things difficult for her in the past, she said. She was barred from attending parliamentary sessions in her region, and denied registration as a candidate for the Barnaul municipal Duma. Following the introduction of the new law against “LGBT propaganda,” she expects obstacles to her work to get worse.
In her post, Alyoshina reflected:
I entered politics, planning to struggle for the rights and liberties of all citizens, regardless of their ethnicity, orientation, or even their political views; and I did struggle for them. But I think I was a bit ahead of my time.
The Russian State Duma passed the bill prohibiting “the propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations” on October 27, by unanimous vote.
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