How Did This Same Sex Couple Legally Wed In Russia?

It's established that Russia is one of the worst countries to live in as far as gay people are concerned, and it goes without saying that their anti-gay laws are discriminatory and backward. That's why news of the country's first ever LEGALLY married same-sex couple has taken the world by storm!

The lesbian couple, Irina Shumilova and Alyona Fursova, somehow managed to get legally married in a nation where same-sex union is illegal.

image courtesy of jezebel

Here's the report from Yahoo! News:

The marriage on Friday went through because one of the women was born male but is now transgender and undergoing hormone therapy, said Anna Anisimova, an activist working with Vykhod, an LGBT rights group in Saint-Petersburg.

"The official registration by two women happened because one of them is a man according to the documents," she said. "Formally it was a wedding between a man and a woman but de-facto it was between two women."

"It was the first (LGBT wedding) in Russia. Both brides wore white dresses."

Way to beat the system! And according to reports, there were no efforts from the registry office to stop the nuptials. Looks like we have some people there who are ready to stand up against bigotry and hatred!

Russian legislator Vitaly Milonov, a proponent of Russia's anti-gay propaganda law, has however expressed he's working on getting the marriage annulled.

BBC reports:

Mr Milonov - one of the most ardent supporters of the 2013 law - told Russian media the staff at the registry office should be tried for treason or criminal negligence.

He would seek the marriage's annulment to avoid "an ugly insult to millions of Russian families in the future", he added.

"There are certain moral standards which it is vital to implement," he said. "These mad people should be banned altogether from getting married."

Goodluck with that. If we are talking technicalities, the Russian government does not recognize gender change. So technically, we are still dealing with a union between a "man" and a "woman." Treating this marriage as illegal would mean that they will be recognizing the gender change. So it looks like a stale mate.


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