Russian lawmakers endorse bill banning ‘child-free propaganda’

Lawmakers in Russia’s upper house of parliament have approved legislation that would ban “child-free propaganda” and the adoption of Russian children by nationals from countries where gender transitions are legal.

Senators in the Federation Council unanimously approved the bills in a vote on Wednesday. The legislation, which was previously approved by the lower house of parliament, bans any person, organisation or government official from promoting a child-free lifestyle or encouraging people, both in person and online, not to have children.

It imposes financial penalties of up to 5 million roubles (about $50,000) for both businesses and individuals while asserting that foreigners who fall foul of the law may be deported.

Russian lawmakers also approved a measure that purportedly aims to protect adopted Russian children from potential “dangers” that they may be exposed to in countries that allow gender reassignment.

The legislation bans citizens from at least 15 countries, most of them in Europe but also including Australia, Argentina and Canada, from adopting Russian children. United States citizens were already blacklisted.

Lawmakers are also considering a ban on “quadrobics”, an obscure fitness trend in which people imitate animal movements.

Upper house speaker Valentina Matviyenko said she was aware of “concerns” about how the child-free legislation would be interpreted in terms of personal choices of the Russian people.

But she stressed the laws would not infringe on the right of individuals not to have children and said society needs to be shielded from “new dangerous phenomena”.

The vote comes amid intensifying Russian efforts to promote what has been described as more traditional-minded family values, especially after the war in Ukraine put Moscow and Western nations at loggerheads.

Russia last year banned gender-transition medical procedures, and its Supreme Court ruled that the LGBTQ movement is “extremist”.

In 2022, President Vladimir Putin signed a law prohibiting the distribution of LGBTQ information to people of all ages, expanding a ban issued nearly a decade earlier on disseminating the material to minors.

The bills approved on Wednesday will be sent to Putin, who is expected to sign them into law.