The situation for queer people in Russia has grown increasingly dire as the Kremlin has enacted a series of oppressive laws targeting the LGBTQ+ community, including the decision to outlaw gender-changing surgeries and processes and declaring the “international LGBT movement” as extremist, criminalizing their existence. In this context, the case of Yulia Alyoshina, the only transgender politician in Russia, is crucial. Alyoshina’s story provides a stark illustration of the severe discrimination and persecution faced by transgender people in the country. Yulia Alyoshina, born in 1990 in Barnaul…
