A same-sex couple in Russia is fighting to protect an official marriage

On February 27, a court in one of the cities in the Urals, Russia began proceedings to invalidate the marriage of a same-sex couple. 

The lawsuit was filed by the local prosecutor's office, and on the side of the defendants was a lawyer cooperating with the "Sphere" organisation. 

The couple got married in 2019, when one of the partners had a different gender marker in her passport. However, in September 2022, she changed it from “male” to “female”, and the registry office employees likely passed the information to the prosecutor’s office. 

In December 2022, the couple was asked to provide evidence and explain their marriage and living situation, including questions about the partners gender transition. 

In January 2023, the city prosecutor's office filed a lawsuit to invalidate the marriage, citing the definition of marriage as "the union of a man and a woman" enshrined in the Russian Federation's Constitution and Family Code. 

The couple's lawyer noted that there is no basis in the Family Code for recognizing a same-sex marriage as invalid, but the judge gave a short period of time to consider the case, indicating that the decision may already be predetermined.

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