But despite growing acceptance of self-ID, the issue is proving controversial in Europe, echoing fierce and often polarized debates about transgender rights in the United States and Britain.
single-sex space, hormones
Some gender-critical voices, including feminists, say that Self-ID puts women at risk because it can be used by violent men to gain access to single-sex spaces such as toilets or changing rooms.
“Now you have to shower next to a naked man because he says he is a woman,” said Lidia Falcon, president of Spain’s Feminist Party.
In Spain, the Senate is set to give final approval to the self-identification bill that was passed by the lower house in December. If it becomes law, any person who is 14 years of age will be allowed to change gender by self-declaration.
LGBTQ+ activists have celebrated the victory, but have criticized the Socialist Party’s (PSOE) decision to endorse gender-neutral markers on identity documents for people who identify as non-binary – neither male or female. Let’s do.
“We will not give up, we will keep fighting,” said Darko Decimvilla, a nonbinary activist in Madrid.
In Germany, the government’s LGBTQ+ rights commissioner, Sven Lehmann, said the self-determination bill should be passed before the end of summer, but LGBTQ+ activists fear a delay as officials seek to address growing concerns about the proposals.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Justice said, “These concerns must be addressed during the legislative process.”
Critics, including the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party and the feminist magazine EMMA, have argued that self-ID would erase what they see as biological facts.
Similar criticism has been leveled in the UK, where the government is invoking powers for the first time to veto the Scottish self-ID bill passed last month.
Also in Finland, parliament is set to vote on a self-ID bill for over-18s in the coming days after a series of delays linked to objections to the law.
“Gender-critical voices have tried to limit the bill and slow it down,” said Vilja Hikkila, a 21-year-old trans woman studying in Turku, southwestern Finland.
In addition to their concerns about women’s rights, Self-ID critics also oppose allowing minors to change their legal gender and say children are being pushed into hormone therapy and gender-affirmation surgery before they are ready. Is.
Heikila, who had to wait four years to receive her new identity document late last year, said Self-ID would only serve to separate legal transitions from medical transitions — which would then depend on the individual.
Currently, the process relies on specialist gender clinics in the country, which have to issue a diagnosis of gender dysphoria and are not available in smaller towns.
According to the advocacy group Transgender Europe, if passed, Finland would become the latest country to eliminate the need for sterilization to change legal gender, with trans people in European countries including the Czech Republic and Romania still facing a facing an obstacle.