Soon people in the Netherlands might be able to walk into their local city hall and simply change their gender in their legal forms — without first jumping through multiple bureaucratic hoops.
Whether this can happen, will be debated in the Dutch cabinet tonight, marking today as a big day for transgender rights in the Netherlands.
If the Transgender Law passes in the House of Representatives, it will make several things more accessible for those who want to change their gender, the NOS reports.
So, what will change if the Dutch cabinet passes this law?
There are a number of steps that will change if this law is passed by the Dutch Parliament tonight. Let’s run through them!
People under 16 can change their legal gender designation
One of the most significant changes would be that people under the age of 16 would have the right to go to court and submit an application to change their gender designation on government forms such as passports and birth certificates.
They will require an expert’s statement in order to begin this process.
People can change their gender designation to gender neutral without an expert’s approval
Another important change would be that people could change the designation of their gender to gender-neutral without involving an expert in the process. Instead, the threshold would be that applicants have to file a request and confirm it between 4 and 12 weeks later.
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Currently, if someone in the Netherlands wants to identify themselves in their legal documents as gender-neutral, they have to have official reports from a therapist saying they can start the process.
You can complete this process at your local municipality
A third important change is that it would be possible to start the process of changing your gender designation at the city hall where you live.
Currently, it is necessary to go to the municipality where you were born to adjust the registration.
What are the critics saying?
People who are critical of the new Transgender Law say that a child at 16 is still under parental authority, so the parents should be involved in the decision to alter their gender designation.
Currently, children who want to register with a different gender identity must go to court first.
Transgender people are left in difficult situations without these changes
Meanwhile, transgender rights organisations claim that many transgender kids in the Netherlands already live according to a gender other than the gender of birth.
The fact that their passport does not ‘show’ this only leads to difficult situations in their everyday lives.
In fact, transgender activists have been fighting to abolish the expert statement for quite some time. They believe that the statement infringes their right to self-determination.
Moreover, the process involves expenses for those who start it. A meeting with an expert costs will set you back an easy €250, and the statement itself is €65.
If these fees would disappear from the process, it would allow more people to start their legal process easier and sooner.
All will be revealed at tonight’s debate.
What do you think about the proposed new law? Tell us in the comments!