Russian parliament advances bill to ban adoptions by gender-transition countries

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s lower house of parliament has passed final reading of a bill to ban adoption of Russian children by citizens of countries where gender transitioning is legal. It follows an array of measures in recent years suppressing non-traditional sexuality. President Vladimir Putin and other top officials in recent years have increasingly called for observing so-called “traditional values” as a counter to Western liberalism characterized as degenerate. The United States would not be directly affected by by the law because Russia in 2012 banned adoption of its children by U.S. citizens.