Toy shop sells transgender doll with penis and a dress, sparks outrage among parents
In Russia, a toy has become the center of a massive outrage. A doll with long blonde hair, wearing a red and yellow polka dot dress and reportedly sporting male genitalia in a shop called ‘Planeta Igrushek’ or ‘Planet Of Toys’ in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk in south-central Russia has displeased folks.
Images of this transgendered doll have sparked anger among people in the country where LGBTQIA+ rights still rank among the lowest in the world.
Comments on social media such as, “Is it ok to produce toys like that for children?”, “All they have to do is buy a medical tool kit and the kid can learn how to amputate” and “I believe this is a liberal attempt to change the society” are but a few examples of how many in the country are up in arms against this toy.
As per Mirror, a social media user Lordex wrote, “I think it is really terrible what is going on in this child’s parent’s head. Have you considered that it could simply be a manufacturing defect? Or they accidentally put a female head on a male body?” While another user Barabanych123’ commented, “All you have to do is cut the doll’s hair and change it into a pair of pants.”
Trans rights, as per a 2019 Moscow Times article are a sham in the country. The report reads: “In Russia, transgender people are classified as mentally ill, at odds with the World Health Organization (WHO) global manual of diagnoses, which in May reclassified gender incongruence as a sexual health issue rather than a behavioral disorder.”
The report added that there are no official statistics on the number of transgender people in Russia, but experts put the number at around 15,000 across the country -- 0.1 percent of the population.
Further, the report said, transgender folk wishing to undergo prescribed and controlled hormone treatment must have a diagnosis of “transsexualism” from a psychiatrist.
An upcoming documentary film ‘A Worm in the Heart’ by filmmaker Paul Rice will explore the extraordinary lives and brave stories of the diverse LGBTQ+ communities across Russia, and how they fight against oppressive laws.