Data published by Russia’s Interior Ministry indicates that a record number of Russians received new passports with updated gender markers in 2022, the independent outlet Mediazona reported on Monday.
Each month, the ministry publishes data on the number of new passports issued, including the reasons for their issuance. Last year, “sex change” was listed as the reason for 936 of the new passports, compared to 554 passports in 2021 and 428 in 2020. In December 2022, one hundred and nineteen Russians received passports with updated gender markers, more than in any previous month on record.
Human rights advocates who spoke to Mediazona said that the spike is likely a result of the war in Ukraine and Russia’s crackdown on LGBTQ+ rights as transgender people seek to avoid mobilization and fear that authorities could ban transitioning altogether in the future.
