Spain advances bill allowing 16-year-olds to change their gender without parental consent

One year after it was presented to the Council of Ministers, the draft version of the “Trans Law,” as it is largely referred to, was endorsed by Spain’s government at the end of June. 

The “Law for Real and Effective Equality of Trans People and for the Guarantee of LGBTI Rights” was written by the Minister of Equality Irene Montero, who is a member of the political party Podemos.

As per the law, from the age of 16, teenagers will no longer be required to obtain their parents’ consent. The parents’ agreement will be required only between the ages of 14 and 16, and for children between the ages of 12-14 who wish to be identified by the opposite sex or any of the other “genders” an independent judge will made a decision on this.

Under-12s will not be permitted to change their sex or gender in the civil registry but will be able to change their name and have the same treatment as children of their chosen gender, which includes the use of toilets and changing rooms.

Spanish lawmakers largely played down criticisms expressed by the General Council of the Judiciary (CGJ), which is the Judiciary’s supervising body, and by the Council of State, the main advisory body to the executive branch. 

Feminist associations said the bill will increase LGBT lobbying in favor of affirming “gender identities,” along with lawmakers within Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s political party Spanish Social Worker’s Party (PSOE). Health care workers have also expressed concerns about that bill.