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Vladimir Putin has signed legislation that bans people from officially or medically changing their gender, representing a further blow to Russia’s embattled LGBTQ+ community.

The act, passed unanimously by both houses of parliament, bans any “medical interventions aimed at changing the sex of a person”, as well as banning changing a person’s gender in official documents or public records.

The only exception will be medical intervention to treat congenital anomalies.

It also annuls marriages in which one person has “changed gender” and bars transgender people from becoming foster or adoptive parents.

The ban stems from the Kremlin’s crusade to protect what it views as the country’s “traditional values”.

Lawmakers say the legislation safeguards Russia against “Western anti-family ideology”, with some describing gender transitioning as “pure satanism”.

Russia’s crackdown on LGBTQ+ people started a decade ago when the president first proclaimed a focus on “traditional family values”, supported by the Russian Orthodox church.

In 2013, the Kremlin adopted legislation that banned any public endorsement of “nontraditional sexual relations” among minors. 

In 2020, Putin pushed through constitutional reform that outlawed same-sex marriage, and last year he signed a law banning “propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations” among adults.

Mallam Salihu Lukman, the national vice chairman of the All Progressives Congress for the North-West, has formally submitted his resignation.

His letter of resignation was delivered on Wednesday to Senator Abubakar Kyari, the party’s acting national chairman.

The news comes one week after the resignations of Senator Iyiola Omisore, the party’s national secretary, and Senator Abdullahi Adamu, the former national chairman of the party.

The Kaduna politician blamed his resignation on suspected illegal behavior and meddling in the party’s internal affairs, which he claimed were at odds with the goals of the founding fathers.

Lukman said that he opted to throw in the towel rather than remain in the party to continue his agitation and be seen as a distraction.

The letter read, “Your Excellency, I hereby kindly resign my position as National Vice Chairman, North-West of our great party, All Progressives Congress. My resignation is with immediate effect, which becomes necessary given my conviction that the atmosphere in the party is completely at variance with the founding vision of forming a progressive party.

“Rather than remaining in the leadership of the party and becoming a source of distraction for leaders and especially for the young government of President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, it is better to excuse myself and take time off from politics.

“I will however retain my membership of the party in the hope that our leaders, especially President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu will retract from acts that will be unjust and illegal, which is crucial to any claim of being democratic or progressive whether as politicians or as patriotic Nigerians.”

The outgoing vice chairman also praised Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, the former governor of Kaduna State, for recommending him and supporting him throughout his term.

All the while, he made a commitment to continue helping the party in any way he could.

“I wish to convey my sincere gratitude to our leaders in Kaduna, especially Mallam Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai for finding me worthy of nomination to serve at the highest level of the party’s leadership. I do hope all our leaders will appreciate that I am left with no option in the circumstance. I wish the party and all our leaders, especially President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu all the best and will continue to give my modest support towards the success of the party from the background,” he said.