The 'trans law' will return to the Council of Ministers next Monday

The Council of Ministers will approve the 'trans law' in the second round next Monday and will thus go through its parliamentary process for final approval, according to Público and sources from the Ministry of Equality confirm to this medium. The Government will give the green light to the Law for the Real and Effective Equality of Trans People and for the Guarantee of the Rights of LGTBI People one year after the approval of the project and in the middle of LGTBI Pride week, whose official day is on June 28.

The same sources confirm that the text maintains "the recognized fundamental rights" in the first version, but also that some changes have been incorporated that are not detailed pending the final version. In fact, the process is not yet complete because the report from the Council of State is still missing, although the ministry expects it to arrive in these days. Once it passes through the Council of Ministers again, the rule will go to the Cortes, where "it will be the turn of the parliamentary groups to improve it," these sources point out.

The law contemplates gender self-determination, a historic fight for trans people, who will no longer have to declare themselves sick to change their legal sex on their DNI. They will do so based on the free expression of their will and will reaffirm the decision before the Civil Registry after three months. This was the formula chosen at the time that unraveled the tense negotiations that took place between the coalition partners.

The rule recognizes that any person over sixteen years of age may request by themselves before the Civil Registry the rectification of the registry mention of sex without providing psychological reports or demonstrating a minimum of two years of hormone treatment, as is currently required. Below this age, the first version allowed the legal change of sex from the age of 12, not before, and stipulated different sections: from 16 without requirements, between 14 and 16 with the consent of their legal representatives, and between 12 and 14 by judicial authorization.

The text returns to the Council of Ministers after obtaining the reports of the advisory bodies. The most critical was that of the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ), which endorsed gender self-determination, but demanded more controls in areas such as sports or gender violence. In addition, he requested more requirements for the legal sex change of minors between 14 and 16 years of age beyond the consent of their parents. On the other side are the LGTBI groups, who claim precisely the opposite and that gender self-determination be for all minors. In addition, they ask that non-binary people be recognized and not be excluded refugees and migrants with papers.

Although all eyes have focused these months on legal sex change, which has sparked strong opposition from a sector of feminism, the law also incorporates other measures. Thus, it includes specific protocols in the field of health for the care of trans people, prohibits the so-called conversion therapies, which normally in the form of psychological therapies are intended to modify the sexual orientation or gender identity of a person, or prohibits surgeries for non-medical reasons on intersex people.