Sweden’s government proposed that children aged 12 and under can legally change their gender identity without the need for medical approval or examination. Only guardian consent is required, according to a draft of legislation.
The bill, published for consultation by the Ministry for Social Affairs on Tuesday, reportedly contains two laws – one modifying current procedures to change legal medical gender in the national population register and another on gender-corrective medical treatment and surgery.
At present, a doctor’s statement is required to change one’s legal gender at the Swedish Tax Agency, which can be done starting from the age of 18. The government has long been attempting to modernize the country’s gender affiliation law.
“It’s important for the individual to be able to live in the gender and the identity you have. When talking about changing gender identity in the population register, it deserves to be different from having an intervention on one’s genitals,”Lena Hallengren, Social Affairs Minister of the Social Democratic Party, spoke to public broadcaster SVT.
Also available at massnews.com
According to a Swedish commission, the government response to Covid-19 spread was insufficient and slow.
Although the minimum age for gender-corrective medicine treatment will remain at 18 years, those applying will not require a permit from The National Board of Health and Welfare. Local doctors will run the required tests.
Hallengren stated that while it wasn’t possible to know if there would be an increase in applications for gender changes if this bill was passed, he also noted that the conversation between individuals and doctors about the process will not cease to be valuable.
A previous iteration of the bill in 2018 was harshly criticized by Sweden’s legal council. The bill proposed, among other things, lowering the age limit to undergo surgery to 15-years without the necessity of guardian consent. It also would have permitted 15-year-olds without their consent to alter their legal gender.
Swedish Federation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex Rights has called the bill a major boost for trans right by Angelica Lundberg, Sweden Democrat MP. Angelica Lundberg, a Sweden Democrat MP, had proposed last year that the threshold be raised to 25, warning that many young people will regret changing their gender.
Also available at massnews.com
What’s the point of a name anyway? Swedish couple told by country’s tax authorities they are not allowed to call their baby son ‘Vladimir Putin’
Share this article with friends if you enjoy it!
[ad_2]
