Being one of the few nations to permit such gender change by self-declaration, the Spanish government on Thursday approved a law allowing individuals 16 and older to change their legally recognised gender without undergoing psychological and medical assessments to demonstrate gender dysphoria.
Irene Montero, Spain’s minister for equality, stated on Thursday in front of the Parliament that the new law respected transgender people’s right to self-determination and forbade the treatment of transgender identity as a disorder.
She asserted, “Trans persons are not sick people. They are people, plain and simple.
Following nations like Argentina and Denmark in passing such a law, Spain is one of the first. Public opinion in other places has been split on similar suggestions. The Scottish Parliament was first overturned by the British government last month, preventing legislation that would have allowed transgender people to have their gender identity officially recognised by making a statement. A criterion for “proof of a diagnosis of gender dysphoria” would no longer apply under the plan.
The bill granting women paid time off if they are identified as having significant menstruation discomfort received final approval from Spanish lawmakers on Thursday, making Spain the first nation in Europe to do so. They also allowed minors 16 and older to access abortions without parental or guardian permission.
The gender bill has stoked conflict within the Socialist Party, Spain’s largest liberal party, as well as between the right and left.
The Socialist Party’s L.G.B.T. secretary, Victor Gutiérrez, praised it, calling it a “law that improves the life of millions of people” on Twitter.
A Socialist senator tweeted that parliamentarians should reject the measure in the name of socialism and feminism, but Carmen Calvo, a well-known Socialist politician and the former deputy prime minister, chose not to vote on it.
‘Laws that are being called off in other countries must not be imposed by the whim of a minority,’ the socialist feminist group Feministas Socialistas declared in a statement.
Yet, it represented a late triumph for advocates for transgender rights.
The Crucifixion is over, tweeted transgender rights advocate Mar Cambrollé Jurado. “Trans folks are experiencing a historic day today.”
If their parents or legal guardians are present, children between the ages of 14 and 16 will be allowed to legally change their gender in the civil registration; youngsters between the ages of 12 and 14 will need a judge’s permission.
The applicant must confirm their choice to change their legal gender within three months of making the original request.
Moreover, conversion therapies that sought to alter a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity were prohibited by law.