MOSCOW, July 17. /TASS/. The majority of Russians (76%) support the ban on gender affirmation surgery, according to a public opinion poll conducted by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) and released on Monday.

"The lawmakers’ idea to ban sex change operations is supported by the bulk of Russians - 76% Nearly each tenth (13%) doesn’t support this ban, and some nine percent are indifferent," it said.

Among the reasons behind the ban are: not going against nature (42%), moral and ethical considerations (30%), and religious principles (19%). Apart from that, most of those polled (72%) said that biological sex prevails over the subjective self, while 13% don’t share this opinion.

Those who are against the ban on changing gender justify their point of view with the need to respect human rights and freedoms (45%), as well as medical indications (13%). Eleven percent of the respondents said that this problem cannot be resolved by means of imposing bans.

The poll was conducted on June 25, 2023 and involved 1,600 Russian nationals aged older than 18.

A bill banning gender affirmation surgeries for any reason other than to treat congenital abnormalities was passed into law by the Russian State Duma (lower parliament house) in the third and final reading on July 14.

Under the law, medical intervention is only possible to treat birth abnormalities and maldevelopment in children, as well as genetic and endocrine diseases associated with disorders of sexual differentiation in children.