Transgender woman commits suicide after being fired by Russian employer

EKATERINBURG, Russia — LGBT activists claim that a 22-year-old transgender woman is the first victim of Russia’s so-called anti-gay “propaganda” law.

Dasha Stern is reported to have committed suicide on October 16 after her employer allegedly fired her based on the fear that, by employing her, the firm would be in violation of the national ban on the “promotion of nontraditional sexual relationships>”

The Association of Russian Lawyers for Human Rights reported that Stern had recently been disowned by her parents and kicked out of her home, presumably for being transgender. Stern had also recently been approved for a mortgage and auto loan but was unable to make those payments after she lost her job.

Prominent Russian Human Rights attorney Masha Bast, along with other Russian LGBT activists, held a vigil and rally near the Kremlin in Moscow’s Red Square on Saturday in honor of Stern.

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Bast, an openly bisexual trans woman, told RusAdvocate, the official blog for The Association of Russian Lawyers for Human Rights: “Vladimir Putin has created the system where there is no place for transgender, there is no place for dissenters.”

“Dasha Stern is the victim of the indifference of Russian society,” Bast said.