Russia bans transsexuals from driving for 'medical reasons'

Russia bans transsexuals from driving for &#039;medical reasons&#039;

(Image credit: Oleg Nikishin/Newsmakers)

last updated 11 January 2015

Russia released new road safety regulations at the end of 2014 that ban transsexuals, transvestites, and others it deems to have "sexual disorders" from driving in the country, Al Jazeera English reports.

Human rights activists have criticized the new rules, calling them "ridiculous and unlawful."

The government resolution lists many "mental and behavioral disorders" that it says leave a person unfit to drive. The proposal, signed by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, uses the medical classifications for "gender identity disorders" laid out by the World Health Organization. But, "that is certainly not the intent of WHO's classifications," that body's director of mental health said.

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Sarah Eberspacher is an associate editor at TheWeek.com. She has previously worked as a sports reporter at The Livingston County Daily Press & Argus and The Arizona Republic. She graduated from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.