Fine of up to 150,000 euros for conversion therapies, shields the right to assisted reproduction of transsexuals and recognizes and protects victims of intersexual violence
Today, on the eve of Pride, the Council of Ministers will give the definitive support and will send the LGTBI-Trans law to Congress for approval. It is the norm that recognizes the right of gender self-determination to transsexuals, that allows the official change of sex from the age of 12, that prohibits therapies to ‘cure’ gays, lesbians or bisexuals and punishes them with harsh fines, which shields the free right to assisted reproduction techniques for all these groups, including trans with the ability to gestate, and that for the first time recognizes and protects victims of violence between same-sex couples, among a long list of measures.
The ‘Trans law’ leaves Congress just a year after the Government validated its first draft and at least a year and a half after avoiding a real political minefield, with fights between the government partners themselves and with strong external questions to certain aspects of the project, such as those of the Judiciary.
Its main promoter, Irene Montero, had to maintain a very tough pulse with the then first vice president, Carmen Calvo, who, like a good part of the classic feminist movement, opposes gender self-determination for trans people. The closed support of the LGTBI movement for the arguments of the head of Equality favored the chief executive, Pedro Sánchez, on his side a year ago and precipitated Calvo’s departure.
The main LGTBI organizations support the content of the project, which they have helped draft, but they aspire to find support among the parliamentary groups to incorporate additional aspirations via amendment. Among them are lowering self-determination of gender with parental permission until at least 12 years old (without the intervention of the judge); the recognition, with their own third box on the DNI, of the non-binary, who do not identify with the existing sexual or gender categories; and extend the rights of the norm to all trans immigrants, whether they have papers or not.
These are the main points of the bill:
depathologization
The change of registered sex will no longer require medical tests as an essential condition to grant it. Transsexuality is a personal choice, not a disease, so no witness statement will be required to corroborate its veracity, nor the medical and psychological reports or the two years of hormonal treatment required up to now.
self determination
The law allows self-determination of gender for transsexuals. Any resident in Spain over 16 years of age will be able to change her name and sex in the Civil Registry simply by requesting it. Those aged 14 and 15 will also have the same right, but must have the support of their parents or guardians (or the Prosecutor’s Office). Adolescents of 12 and 13 will be able to change their registered sex, but they need judicial authorization. A judge will determine your degree of maturity and firmness in the desire for transsexuality.
ageless name change
Minors under 12 will not be able to change their registered sex, but they are free to change their name to the one they consider more consistent with their identity. That change of name displays rights in the treatment at school and in sports activities.
A four-month process
The change of registered sex begins with the appearance of the interested party, who must fill out a form and hear the legal consequences of his decision. In a maximum of three months, he will return to the registry to ratify her claim. A month later he will receive the official resolution.
The anti-fraud clause
There is a security clause to prevent someone from playing with the rule or committing legal fraud. Once the registration sex change has been granted, and after six months in which it can be revoked, the operation can no longer be freely reversed. If someone wants to return to their original official sex after the security period, they will have to go to court to ask for it.
Stop conversion therapies
The text prohibits alleged therapies to ‘cure’ LGTBI people, the so-called conversion or aversion therapies, and will penalize anyone who offers or performs them with fines of up to 150,000 euros.
Shielded Assisted Reproduction
Public and free assisted reproduction techniques for lesbians, bisexuals, single women and trans citizens with the capacity to gestate are guaranteed by law. These groups are shielded against exclusions from the benefit such as the one decided by the PP in 2014.
legal mothers
It guarantees registration as the legal parent of the partner of a lesbian or bisexual mother even if they are not married.
Intersex Rights
Genital modification operations on intersex newborns are prohibited except for medical necessity and a period of one year is granted for the parents of these babies to define their sex in the Registry.
intragender violence
The law recognizes as victims for legal purposes and grants comprehensive protection for the first time to victims of intra-gender violence (same-sex couples). They want to face a hidden scourge that can affect up to a third of gay and lesbian couples.
Other rights
The law requires that the educational curriculum promote respect for sexual diversity at all ages; prohibits employment discrimination against LGTBI; provides positive action measures for access to employment for trans and comprehensive health care; and national strategies for LGTBI non-discrimination and for the social inclusion of trans people.
harsh penalties
It includes sanctions for those who discriminate against LGTBI people. As a general rule and if there are indications, the burden of proof is reversed and it will be the defendant who has to demonstrate that he does not discriminate in order to avoid the fine. There are minor sanctions (up to 2,000 euros), serious (up to 10,000) and very serious (from 10,001 to 150,000). Alleged conversion therapies will be sanctioned with maximum fines; harassment or retaliation based on sexual orientation; the use of textbooks that point to these groups as inferior; or who discriminates against them in access to employment or housing.
aggravating
Recidivism, secondary revictimization or the social significance of the events will be criteria to be taken into account when determining the fines and will act as aggravating circumstances to direct the sanctions to the upper part of the bracket. These sanctions may also be accompanied by ancillary measures such as the abolition of public aid, the prohibition of contracting with the administration or the closure of the establishment.
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