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Spain set to pass transgender rights law

2023-02-16T05:47:34.765Z


MEPs will also adopt a law on women's rights, which notably provides for the creation of “menstrual leave”.


After months of sometimes stormy discussions, Spanish deputies must definitively adopt a law on Thursday allowing people to freely change gender from the age of 16, at a time when other European countries are hesitating or backtracking on this controversial subject.

Battle horse of the radical left party Podemos, an ally of the socialists in the government of Pedro Sánchez, this so-called “transgender” bill was adopted by a large majority of deputies at first reading on December 22.

The Senate having voted it last week with some modifications, the deputies must again decide.

It will allow people who wish to change their gender on their identity papers via a simple administrative declaration from the age of 16.

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It will then no longer be necessary to provide medical reports attesting to gender dysphoria and proof of hormonal treatment followed for two years, as is the case today for adults.

The text will also extend this right to 14-16 year olds, provided that they are accompanied in the procedure by their legal guardians, as well as to 12-14 year olds if they obtain the green light from justice.

Spain will thus join the few countries in the world allowing gender self-determination, like Denmark, the first country to grant this right to transgender people in 2014.

"Medical caution"

The debate over gender dysphoria, that is, the distress caused by a mismatch between a person's biological sex and the gender with which a person identifies, has gained momentum in many countries in recent years with the increase in requests for transition, particularly among minors.

But the vote in Spain comes at a time when several countries, hitherto at the forefront of the subject, are wondering, when they are not backing down.

In Sweden, the authorities decided a year ago to end hormone therapy for minors, except in very rare cases, citing the need to exercise “caution” in a field full of unknowns.

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In Finland, a similar decision was taken as early as 2020, while in France, the Academy of Medicine called for

“great medical caution”

in the treatment of young patients and “the greatest reserve” on hormonal treatments. .

Finally, the United Kingdom last month blocked a Scottish law on transgender rights similar to that of Spain, adopted at the end of December by the Edinburgh parliament after heated debate.

This episode weakened Scottish Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon, who announced her resignation on Wednesday, after a heated controversy arose from the incarceration in a women's prison of a transgender woman convicted of raping two women before her transition.

"Recoil"

In Spain, the 'trans' bill has sparked deep divisions within the left and the feminist movement itself, as the country prepares for general elections later this year.

The text is ardently defended by the Minister for Equality Irene Montero, a member of Podemos, who said she was ready to

“leave (her) skin”

to have it adopted.

"Trans people and the LGTBI community can't wait any longer," she insisted.

A message relayed by the largest LGBT organization in Spain, FELGBTI+.

This law

“will encourage other countries to follow our example”

, estimated its president Uge Sangil.

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But other voices, dissonant, are heard.

"To claim gender as being above biological sex (...) seems to me to be a setback"

, denounced the former number two of the Sánchez government, Carmen Calvo.

“Opening this door”

of gender transition

“without any restrictions to children seems to me hasty”

and

“very dangerous”

, commented Rim Alsalem, UN special rapporteur on violence against women, in an interview with the Madrid daily. El Mundo.

During Thursday's session, MEPs will also adopt a law on women's rights, which notably provides for the creation of a "menstrual leave" for women suffering from painful periods, a first in Europe.

The text will also strengthen access to abortion in public hospitals, where there are many conscientious objections from doctors, and will authorize abortions without parental consent from the age of 16.

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2023-02-16

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