A bill that allows people to change their gender freely from the age of 16 is due to be voted on at first reading by Spanish lawmakers on Thursday, after months of tension within the left-wing government and the feminist movement.
A workhorse of the radical leftist party Podemos, an ally of the socialists in the Pedro Sánchez government, this text should allow a transgender person to change their name and gender on their identity documents during a simple appointment with the administration.
And this, without providing medical reports or proof of hormonal treatment followed for two years, as is the case today with adults in the country.
If definitively approved by the Senate in the coming weeks, as expected, this bill will allow Spain to join the few countries in the world that authorize gender self-determination.
In Europe, Denmark was the first country to grant this right to transgender people in 2014.
A historic state debt
“This law repairs a historical debt of the State with respect to transgender people” and “‘depathologizes’ the lives of transgender people” by “guaranteeing (their) rights,” the minister of l’declared this Wednesday before the deputies. Equality, Irene Montero, standard bearer of this law.
“The feminist majority of this Chamber responds to transphobia,” added this member of Podemos.
Called the “trans law”, this text will also allow young people between the ages of 14 and 16 to freely change their gender in their civil status, if they are accompanied in the procedure by their legal guardians. Children between the ages of 12 and 14 will have to get a green light from the courts.
Currently, all minors must obtain this judicial authorization.
In all cases, a period of three months is expected between the submission of the application and its validation by the applicant so that they can confirm their decision to change gender.
Political division
Approved by the Council of Ministers more than a year ago, this bill caused a split between Podemos, which made it a pillar of its government action and demanded its express adoption, and the Socialists who tried in vain to modify the text.
It also deeply divided the feminist movement, between supporters of Irene Montero and historical activists, in an open war against this text.
“Reclaiming gender over biological sex (…) seems to me a setback” for women, denounced the former number two of the Sánchez government, Carmen Calvo, in an interview published by the newspaper The world in September.
“The State must respond to transgender people, but (biological) sex is not voluntary or optional,” he added, highlighting the legal risks induced by this law.
These historic feminists fear in particular that men who identify as women could participate in women’s sports competitions or be incarcerated in women’s prisons, for example.
Amendment for 14-16 year olds rejected
Echoing these fears, the Socialists tabled an amendment to extend the obligation of a green light from justice to 14- to 16-year-olds. But finally it was rejected.
LGBT+ activist and the first transgender woman to be elected to a regional parliament in Spain, Carla Antonelli slammed the door of the Socialist Party in October to protest her party’s desire to amend the bill.
Its adoption by the deputies on Thursday will constitute “the triumph of reason over hate,” he insisted this Wednesday.
Source: BFM TV
