Rainbow International, a global LGBTQ+ rights organisation, ranked Russia last in LGBTQ+ rights in Europe over the last two years. For transgender people living in Russia, this means a life of risks and frequently exile, according to Global Voices in its July 2026 series on statelessness.
Isabelle, a trans woman from Magnitogorsk in the Urals, realised she was trans between the ages of 16 and 17, but did not dare transition because she lived in a dormitory in that industrial city and Russian society, especially in small towns, was inhospitable. In mid-2022 she began hormone therapy with support from Centre T, an NGO that helped trans people. However, in 2023 a law was passed prohibiting sex change, and in March 2026 Centre T was declared an extremist organisation.
As the years went by, the situation deteriorated. Isabelle was repeatedly insulted in the streets, and when she began using feminine pronouns on social media, she understood that she could be imprisoned. "I knew I could be imprisoned for that, and in Russian realities, for me, that would be a death sentence," she wrote in her testimony. She decided she could not remain in the country any longer.
In September 2025 she attempted to obtain a visa to Spain, a destination she chose for considering it one of the safest places in Europe for trans people, but it was rejected. She then decided to use the Balkan route. Along with two other trans activists, she travelled to Serbia and crossed into Croatia, but continued towards Spain through Hungary, where she planned to take a flight.
