Advertisement

Denmark moves towards allowing official sex change for young transgender people

Ritzau/The Local
Ritzau/The Local - [email protected]
Denmark moves towards allowing official sex change for young transgender people
Copenhagen Pride in 2018. Photo: Mads Claus Rasmussen / Ritzau Scanpix

People under the age of 18 in Denmark could soon be able to legally change their gender on identification and official documentation.

Advertisement

A broad political majority, consisting of the Social Democrats, Red Green Alliance, Social Liberal and Liberal parties all support the law change, Kristeligt Dagblad reports.

A potential law change in the area was first mooted in 2018 under the previous government, which said it could help improve equality for transgender people.

Since 2014, Denmark has allowed people over the age of 18 to change their gender in a legal sense, meaning, for example, that they are described as the gender they identify as on the country’s Central Personal Registration (CPR).

The CPR personal number provides access to the public health system and is also used as an ID by services like banks, mobile phone companies and gyms.

READ ALSO: Is life in Denmark impossible without a personal registration number?

Since the numbers are constructed to denote the gender of the holder (even numbers are given to women, odd numbers to men), transgender people often experience confusion or difficulty when using their CPR as an ID, unless they legally change their gender and receive a new number.

The four parliamentary parties want that issue to be corrected, including for under-18s.

“We know that it means a lot to children who do not identify as the gender denoted by their CPR number. It puts them in a lot of uncomfortable situations,” Red Green Alliance equality spokesperson Mai Villadsen told Kristeligt Dagblad.

A panel was commissioned by the last government to analyse the issue as part of an LGBTI equality plan announced in 2018.

The panel is yet to conclude its work, but the centre-right Liberal party, which helped commission it, is supportive of the idea.

Former minister for equality Eva Kjer Hansen, who was coordinating minister for LGBTI issues under the last government, said her party remains willing to lower the age of legal gender change. The Social Democrats are also in support, while the Social Liberals are open to a minimum age of 15.

READ ALSO: Danish government could reduce ‘very uncomplicated’ legal sex change age for young transgender people

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

See Also