Gender self-identification

Countries recognising gender self-identification; sub-national entities are not marked

Gender self-identification is the concept that a person's legal sex or gender should be determined by their gender identity, without any medical requirements. It is a major goal of the transgender rights movement. Advocates of self-identification say that medical requirements are intrusive and humiliating gatekeeping, and that self-identification would make it easier for transgender people to live day-to-day without prejudice and that it has caused no problems in countries such as Ireland, where it was introduced in 2015. Self-identification is opposed by some feminists, who consider safety in places like refuges and prisons, and fairness in sports, to be adversely affected, a position rejected by the UN's Independent Expert. Opponents also consider affirmation of self-identification in children with gender dysphoria to set them on a path of medical gender transition.

As of July 2021, gender self-identification is part of the law in fifteen countries, including Brazil, India, France, Ireland, 5 other countries in the European Union and several jurisdictions in Latin America. Proposals to introduce it have proved controversial in some countries, such as Spain and the United Kingdom.

Positions of international bodies

The Council of Europe Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination says gender self-identification is part of "international human rights standards with respect to the rights of trans people". In April 2015, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe adopted Resolution 2048 (2015), within which "the Assembly calls on Member States to ... develop quick, transparent and accessible procedures, based on self-determination ... available for all people who seek to use them, irrespective of age, medical status, financial situation or police record". In 2015, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights stated that "abusive requirements as a precondition of recognition — for example, by requiring ... forced gender reassignment and other medical procedures" are "in violation of international human rights standards" and in 2018, Victor Madrigal-Borloz, the United Nations Independent Expert on Protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, stated that "the right to self-determine one's gender was a fundamental part of a person's freedom and a cornerstone of the person’s identity" and that states' obligations included "adopting legal measures such as being based on self-determination [and] ensuring that minors have access to recognition of their gender identity".

Around the world

The Americas

Countries in the Americas recognising gender self-identification; sub-national entities are not marked

In the United States, in June 2021, Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that passports would be moving to a system of gender self-identification.

Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador and Uruguay also have self-identification, as does Mexico City.

Argentina

In 2012, the Ley de Género made Argentina the "only country that allows people to change their gender identities without facing barriers such as hormone therapy, surgery or psychiatric diagnosis that labels them as having an abnormality". In 2015, the World Health Organization cited Argentina as an exemplary country for providing transgender rights.

Canada

As of October 2021, half of the provinces (Alberta, British Columbia, Prince Edward Island, Ontario, and Saskatchewan), and all territories, do not offer anyone not born there the ability to change their legal gender.

In 2015, Bill 82, Nova Scotia abolished the surgical requirement, instead requiring a statement "that the applicant has assumed, identifies with and intends to maintain the gender identity that corresponds with the change requested," and an attestation from a professional that the applicant's gender identity does not correspond to that listed on the birth certificate.

In November 2020, refugee claimants became able to change their legal gender federally. In March 2021, temporary residents were afforded the same right (without requiring a change to their passport).

In October 2021, the government of Québec proposed Bill 2, which introduce a requirement for people wishing to change the sex assigned on their birth certificates to undergo genital surgery, as well as allowing people to add a new section to their birth certificates titled "Gender," which would include the possibility of a third non-male or female gender. The bill would additionally require intersex people to "apply for a change of designation of sex" as soon as possible.

Asia

In India, the Supreme Court affirmed the right to self-determination in two 2014 cases.

Europe

Countries in Europe recognising gender self-identification; sub-national entities are not marked

The Council of Europe Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination's 2021 report "Combating rising hate against LGBTI people in Europe" stated that the state of emergency in Hungary had effectively introduced a complete ban on obtaining documents reflecting the gender of trans and intersex people. The report also said that "commitments to simplify access to legal gender recognition .. have not been followed through in countries such as Cyprus, Finland, Germany and the United Kingdom" and that efforts had stalled "in countries such as Azerbaijan, Georgia, Serbia and Turkey as well as in Northern Ireland. Ireland introduced self-identification in 2015, and France in 2016. Denmark has self-identification, and requires a six-month "reflection period" before the change of gender can be formalised. Greece, Iceland, Luxembourg, Malta, Norway and Portugal also have self-identification.

Germany

In June 2021, Germany's parliament voted down two self-identification bills. One of the bills also permitted sex reassignment surgery on children starting at age 14 regardless of parental objection and would have introduced a fine of €2,500 for misgendering.

Hungary

Following the coronavirus lockdown of 2020, prime minister Viktor Orbán was enabled to rule by decree following an emergency powers act. On 31 March, the Transgender Day of Visibility, a bill was submitted that replaced the Hungarian term nem, meaning 'sex', with sex at birth, defined as "the biological sex determined by primary sexual characteristics and chromosomes". Parliament voted in favor of the bill on 19 May 2020, making it impossible for individuals to change their legal gender. The vote was 134 yes, 56 no, and 4 abstentions. Dunja Mijatović, commissioner for human rights in the Council of Europe, stated it "contravenes human rights standards and the case law of the European Court of Human Rights".

Ireland

On 15 July 2015, the Oireachtas passed the Gender Recognition Act of 2015 which permits an Irish citizen to change his or her gender on government documents through self-determination. The law does not require any medical intervention by the applicant nor an assessment by the state. Such changes are possible through self-determination for any person aged 18 or over who is ordinarily resident in Ireland and/or registered on Irish registers of birth or adoption. Persons aged 16 to 18 years must secure a court order to exempt them from the normal requirement to be at least 18.

In late-January 2018, over 1000 Irish feminists, including several groups such as the University College Dublin Centre of Gender, Feminisms & Sexualities, signed an open letter condemning a planned meeting in Ireland on UK Gender Recognition Act reforms organised by a British group opposing the reforms. The letter stated that "Trans people and particularly trans women are an inextricable part of our feminist community" and accused the British group of colonialism.

Nordic countries

In 2019, Icelandic Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir proposed a bill to introduce gender recognition via statutory declaration in the country. The bill was passed by the Althing by a vote of 45–0, with three abstentions.

Spain

In Spain, as of June 2021, a draft bill for gender self-identification was moving forward, as a part of a political agreement between the Socialist Party and its junior coalition partner Unidas Podemos. It sets a minimum age of 14, though those 14 through 16 need parental approval. Debated in parliament after a hunger strike by 70 trans activists and parents of trans children, a previous bill giving children total freedom of legal gender recognition had been rejected in May. According to the Council of Europe Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination, "98% of responses to a public consultation" were in favor of the changes. LGBTQ+ campaigners criticized the new bill for having age limits and for not having provision for non-Spanish residents and non-binary identities. A collective of about 50 feminist groups opposed the bill, concerned about "protection of the specific rights against gender-based oppression". The Council of Europe Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination spoke of "extremely hostile anti-trans discourse .. from the highest political levels" and said that "trans-specific and non-binary organisations [had been] excluded from political discussions".

United Kingdom

In Great Britain (but not Northern Ireland), the Equality Act 2010 effectively provides self-identification for day-to-day purposes under the protected characteristic of "gender re-assignment," which includes "any stage in the transition process – from proposing to reassign your gender, to undergoing a process to reassign your gender, or having completed it," but allows providers of sex-segregated services to deny access to transgender people on a case-by-case basis of "a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim".

In England and Wales, a proposal developed under Theresa May's government to revise the Gender Recognition Act 2004 to introduce self-identification was dropped in 2020 after opposition. Instead, Boris Johnson's government reduced the cost of application to £5, and the procedure to apply was moved online. In 2021, Kemi Badenoch, junior minister for Women and Equalities, stated that "we do not believe in self-identification". In Scotland, as of August 2021, the government was moving forward with self-identification legislation that would also reduce the minimum age for applicants from 18 to 16.

Regarding the United Kingdom in general, the Council of Europe Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination argued that "anti-trans rhetoric" had "been gaining baseless and concerning credibility, at the expense of both trans people's civil liberties and women's and children's rights" and that "the 'gender-critical' movement ... wrongly portrays trans rights as posing a particular threat to cisgender women and girls". In a 2018 public consultation, 64% of respondents said that there should not be a requirement for a diagnosis of gender dysphoria, 80% were in favour of removing the requirement for a medical report, and 77% were in favour of removing the requirement for people to evidence living "in their acquired gender for a period of time". Seven Scottish women's groups — Close the Gap, Engender, Equate Scotland, Rape Crisis Scotland, Scottish Women's Aid, Women 50:50, and Zero Tolerance — released a joint statement during the Scottish GRA consultations endorsing the proposed reforms.

See also


This page was last updated at 2021-10-28 08:33 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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