The partners of the coalition government, PSOE and United We Can, remain entrenched in their positions a month after the draft of the
trans law
prepared by the Ministry of Equality was known.
Minister Irene Montero (Podemos) has sounded blunt this Wednesday in an interview on TVE: “I cannot give in (...).
The message for trans people is clear: their rights are going to be law in this legislature ”.
The reserves of the socialist part of the Executive have already delayed the claims of Equality, which went through taking the draft bill to the Council of Ministers last February together with the draft of the so-called
LGTBI law.
Montero recalled that in 2019 "all the political forces present in Parliament" supported a congressional presentation that defended progress towards free gender self-determination, with a text "exactly the same" as the current draft.
The initiative, promoted then by the Socialist Party, was actually more concise than the current proposal of United We Can, but they did coincide on the aspect that now worries the PSOE most: gender self-determination.
Changing sex in the Civil Registry "does not require more requirements than the express declaration of the person concerned", included the socialist initiative and also contemplates the current draft.
"There was a political consensus that is not explained why it has been broken," the Minister of Equality continued before warning that she has not received "a single alternative proposal for an alternative wording to that text" from the PSOE.
The first vice presidency, headed by Carmen Calvo, commissioned a comparative law report on laws in other European countries.
Sources of the negotiation point out that they are especially interested in the regulations of Portugal - which contemplates that if a person wants to change the sex in the registry a second time, they must go to court - and the Danish model, which provides for a reflection period of six months before formalizing the change.
The commitment of the PSOE with the organizations, with which it is meeting weekly, is to have the project in process "in April or May" so that there is a proposal underway for Gay Pride Day, at the end of June.
In parallel, both government partners are also holding meetings to try to iron out differences, although the Socialists defend a fusion of the two laws.
The Minister of Equality has also ruled out that there is a debate in feminism about trans women: ”It is a false debate.
In feminism there is a very broad consensus that trans women are part of feminism ”.
A part of feminism, in which some of the historical feminists close to the PSOE are found, are suspicious of the project because they consider that the proposal may pose a threat to laws and advances that are based on inequality between men and women.
The Socialists do not feel comfortable with the draft and have shown it publicly since its content became known, by ensuring that it was necessary to work on the "normative quality and legal security" of the norm, although they have not clarified what are the aspects that they want to modify.
Montero acknowledges that the process is slower than expected, since he did not go to the Council of Ministers this Tuesday either, but he remains in his position: "There is no reason to tell trans people that their rights can wait."
A few days before International Women's Day, which is celebrated next Monday, March 8, Montero has also confirmed that he will not attend any demonstration even if the sanitary measures are complied with, because, as part of the Government, it is up to him to follow “closely The recommendations.
However, she has said that it is her responsibility to "raise her voice in favor of not criminalizing the feminist movement" in the face of the "smear campaign" of the far right.
"The feminist movement is proposing the best transformation program in this country," she added.