Spain’s government on Monday presented a transgender rights bill, due to be submitted to Parliament this summer, that will allow anyone over the age of 16 to easily change the gender on their identity documents.
The move comes on the eve of International Pride Day and if the legislation is passed, Spain will become one of the few countries in Europe to allow gender self-determination.
“We have passed the second reading of the trans and LGBTI rights bill, which will now go to Parliament before the summer,” said Equality Minister Irene Montero after the cabinet approved the bill.
“Once again, we are at the forefront and an international reference in defending LGBTI rights and particularly in defending the rights of transgender people,” she said of the move to no longer categorize trans-related illnesses as mental and behavioral disorders .
The law, first passed a year ago, means that any Spaniard over 16 “can request to change the gender of their registry entry”.
You can also change their first name.
The bill effectively simplifies the process of changing the gender of official identity documents by allowing the applicant to request the change based on a simple statement.
Eliminates the requirement for a medical report confirming gender dysphoria or evidence of hormone treatment.
According to the new law, the re-registration process must be completed “within a maximum of four months,” she said.
– “LGBTI lives matter” –
A court in the northwestern region of Galicia earlier this month approved a sex change request for a nine-year-old boy who wanted to be identified as a man instead of a woman on identity documents.
The child already had “a boy’s name” and had “for years … thought, acted and felt like a boy,” the court said in a June 10 ruling released Monday.
The bill, approved by Cabinet on Monday, will allow as young as 12-year-olds to make the change, but only under certain conditions.
“Between the ages of 14 and 16, the procedure requires parental consent; between the ages of 12 and 14, the process can be done through voluntary trials,” Montero said.
And it also means that trans children under the age of 12 “can change their name on their ID card,” she said, without saying how such a procedure would work.
“We want to send a very clear and powerful message: LGBTI lives matter,” she said.
The bill also includes a new section on transgender migrants, who will have the right to change their gender “on documents issued in Spain if they are not guaranteed their rights as transgender people in their country of origin”.
– Ban on conversion therapy –
The law bans conversion therapy, promotes non-discrimination against LGBTI people in the workplace, and seeks to “drive inclusion,” particularly of transgender women, who tend to be disproportionately impacted.
It also provides for penalties for discriminatory offences, ranging from minor offenses such as insults or offensive graffiti, which can carry a fine of 200 to 2,000 euros, to serious offenses such as refusal to hire, which can carry a fine of 2,001 to 10,000 euros can be prosecuted.
The worst offences, like denying someone access to a bar or swimming pool or putting them through conversion therapy, carry a fine of between €10,001 and €150,000, she said.
According to LGBTQ rights group ILGA, at least 25 UN member states allow “legal gender reassignment without prohibition conditions,” although only about 15 people have their status changed on the basis of a simple declaration.
In some countries, the process can take years and may involve requirements such as a psychiatric diagnosis, hormone treatment, sex reassignment surgery, or even sterilization.
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