Rainbow development in Spain.
In Spain, a new draft of a bill on LGBTQIA rights was approved by the Cabinet; it is, hopefully, going to be backed by lawmakers who – if they approve the bill as drafted – will allow people as young as 16 to change their gender freely, and those as young as 12 to do so with a judge’s authorization.
Specifically, all Spanish nationals above 16 will be able to change their gender and name only by stating their desire to do so twice within a period of four months. The current practice is for applicants to first acquire a diagnosis from medical practitioners of gender dysphoria (i.e. the psychological condition of feeling a mismatch between one’s biological sex and gender identity).
Teenagers between 14 and 16 will be able to apply for these changes with parental permission or by going to a judge if there is disagreement among them. A court’s involvement is mandatory in applications for those between 12 and 14, and children under 12 are only allowed to register a new name but not to switch their gender.
This new bill is actually similar to a draft presented by the government a year ago, though this didn’t pass the legislature. A notable difference is the newer bill’s inclusion of the right for non-Spaniards residing in Spain to change their name and gender in documents issued by Spanish authorities, though only if “their rights are not guaranteed in their home countries.”
