Russia: Second LGBT couple legally weds

By John Mack Freeman

It must be very frustrating trying to come up with the perfect bigoted law. Anti-LGBT cranks want to be sure to kick people as often and as hard as possible, but when they get that excited, they have a hard time running through all the ramifications. Most people know about Russia’s harsh anti-LGBT laws that prohibit any sort of education or public speech about pro-LGBT issues. One of the side effects of this law is that also does not allow the state to recognize the transition of a transgender person. Because of this, the virulently anti-same sex marriage Russian state has now legally recognized a second same sex marriage, this time in St. Petersburg.

Via Advocate.com:

Irina Shumilova, who self-identifies as a transsexual woman, was able to legally wed her partner Alyona Fursova last Friday, even though same-sex marriage is forbidden in Russia. Because the Russian government does not recognize the gender identity of transgender individuals, it does not recognize Shumilova as a woman, therefore giving the St. Petersburg registrar no grounds to deny the couple a marriage license.