In Belgium, more sex changes in documents will be possible

In Belgium, people with a fluid gender identity will be able to change sex on the birth certificate several times in their lives and without going through an exceptional procedure at the family court. Or change your name without changing sex, or take a name regardless of gender identity. This is provided for in a government bill that will be presented tomorrow to the Justice Committee to simplify the modification of the sex registration in the birth certificate. The newspaper Le Soir reports.

This is a correction of the transgender law in force in the country since 2018, which eliminated medical conditions to request sex change, indicating the principle of self-determination at the base of the procedure of changing the registration of sex in the birth certificate and changing the name for reasons of transidentity.

However, the transgender law had stated that these changes were in principle irrevocable. The reform also failed to take into account people whose gender identity is non-binary with discrimination and violation of the right to privacy, according to the Constitutional Court.

However, the bill did not fully resolve this issue, stating a possible "stigmatizing effect" from the introduction of an additional 'X' category alongside those indicated today (M/F). One solution could be to eliminate sex altogether as an element of marital status, but the point is still debated, also because of the repercussions on the right of filiation.