The police began calling trans people and sending them subpoenas for interviews, reports the human rights organization Sfera.
Human rights activists are aware of two cases in the Arkhangelsk region, where trans persons received summonses for questioning at the regional department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for economic security and anti-corruption. The police demanded that they talk about receiving certificates on the basis of which they changed the gender marker in the documents.
The security forces called another person in St. Petersburg with the same question, Sfera clarifies.
A resident of Arkhangelsk who went to the survey said that the police officer asked when and where the certificate was received, how much it cost, who advised getting this document and who was present at the commission. In addition, a transgender young man was asked if he had gone to LGBTQ+ parties. He replied that he did not remember this, after which, according to him, they issued him another summons, saying: “We will call you until you remember.”
When the young man sent the police a certificate, they called him back and asked why he was given the document in one day in Moscow. According to human rights activists, the Arkhangelsk resident was threatened that if the certificate turns out to be invalid, he would be forced through the court to undergo detransition (reverse transition — MZ).
According to Katya Dikovskaya, head of the Sfera legal aid service, such actions by the police are associated with an inspection of institutions that issued medical reports.
In July 2023, Putin signed a law that prohibits operations related to transgender transition, as well as changing the gender marker in documents. Exceptions, according to the document, will be made for those who had “surgical interventions aimed at changing sexual characteristics” before the law came into force.
On November 30, the Supreme Court declared the non-existent “International LGBT Social Movement” an extremist organization and banned its activities in Russia.
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