After months of sometimes heated debate within the ruling left-wing, Spanish MPs on Thursday gave final approval to a law allowing people to freely change their gender from the age of 16, at a time when other European countries are holding back on this controversial subject.
The so-called ‘transgender law’, which is the battle horse of the radical left-wing party Podemos, an ally of the Socialists in Pedro Sánchez’s government, allows people to change their gender on their identity papers by means of a simple administrative declaration from the age of 16.
It will no longer be necessary to provide medical reports attesting to gender dysphoria and proof of two years of hormonal treatment, as was previously the case for adults.
The text – adopted by 191 votes to 60 with 91 abstentions – also extends this right to 14-16-year-olds, provided they are accompanied in the procedure by their legal guardians, and to 12-14-year-olds, if they get the green light from the court.
Spain thus joins the few countries in the world that allow gender self-determination via a simple declaration, following the example of Denmark, the first country to grant this right in Europe to transgender people in 2014.
“Today we have taken a giant step forward” by recognising the “free determination of gender identity”, said Podemos Equality Minister Irene Montero.
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