Spaniards over 16 years of age will be able to change their name and sex in the Civil Registry from this Thursday, March 2, without any requirement, other than the express wish of the applicant, with the entry into force of the Trans Law. In addition, 16 and 17-year-old girls may terminate their pregnancy without parental permission due to the entry into force of the organic law that modifies the Law on sexual and reproductive health and the voluntary interruption of pregnancy.
The text of the regulations, approved by Congress two weeks ago, will be published this Wednesday in the Official State Gazette (BOE), according to what government sources have told Europa Press, and, according to the law, it will enter into force on day after said publication.
Thus, starting this Thursday, it will be enough for anyone who so wishes to request a registration change in writing, without the need to present evidence or witnesses. This decision must be ratified by the applicant three months later, while the Administration will have one more month. That is, the process will last about four months maximum.
This law modifies the text approved in 2007 during the socialist government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, which required at least two years of hormone therapy and a medical diagnosis proving gender dysphoria for the registration change.
Regarding abortion, in addition to eliminating the requirement of parental consent to abort in the case of girls under 16 and 17 years of age, the rule also eliminates the three days of reflection, guarantees that the interruption of the pregnancy can be carried out in hospitals public and shields abortion against anti-abortion protocols such as the one proposed by Vox in Castilla y León.
On the day of its approval in Congress, the Minister of Equality, Irene Montero, assured that it was a "historic day" for women. "We recover the right that was stolen from 16 and 17-year-old girls to decide about their own body, informing and sharing this process with their families, with whoever they want, but they and only they are the ones who decide. And the State also sends a message forceful to women: we believe in and respect their decisions; women, when they decide to terminate their pregnancy, have reflected on the time they have needed," Montero said.
Among other changes, the abortion law reform also introduces the recognition of menstrual health as part of the right to health; the distribution of contraceptive methods in prisons, social services and during sexual education campaigns in secondary schools, or the co-responsibility of men in the use of contraceptives.
Although the leave due to disabling menstruation and termination of pregnancy, whether voluntary or not, will not take effect until the beginning of June, since the law specifies that some final provisions will not be applicable until three months after the publication of the law in the BOE.
The entry into force of this rule also allows minors between 14 and 16 years of age to change their name and sex, although in their case they must have the consent of their parents or guardians for their request. In the event that a minor does not have their consent, a judicial defender will be appointed to resolve the conflict.
In addition, children from 12 to 14 years old can change the gender as long as the minor has the authorization of a judge, who will examine his maturity; while minors under 12 years of age cannot change the registry mention of the sex, but their name can be changed to adjust it to the gender with which they identify.
On the contrary, the law allows that in six months a trans person can request to return to their original sex in the same way that they requested it. In the event that she wanted to modify it for the third time, then she would have to go through a judge, who would decide if there were signs of legal fraud.
From Justice they have assured Europa Press that the Civil Registry is prepared to carry out this change in legislation, since these measures are already applied in a similar way in 15 autonomies that have their own Trans Law.
Even so, he explains that there has been a meeting with the department headed by Irene Montero since the norm specifies that the officials must inform the applicants of the registry change about this process, as well as the reversal, among other issues. Justice has explained to Europa Press that they are waiting for the new information to be provided to applicants.
But these are not the only measures that will come into force, the law also includes measures to guarantee the rights of LGTBI people, such as the filiation of the children of lesbian couples without them having to be married.
In addition, single, lesbian and bisexual women will have access to assisted reproduction and diversity training measures will be implemented for assistants for the elderly or measures in relation to education and against collective discrimination (work, social, leisure). .
Sexile is also recognized, which is the abandonment of a town or city by a person from the group due to discrimination or LGTBIphobia suffered in their environment in that place, or what is known as conversion therapies are prohibited.
From the FELGTBI they have assured that they will be "vigilant" so that all the measures that this norm supposes are applied correctly, given the criticism that the text has received, both from the political world and from civil society.
Among these are those from the feminist movement. This sector has assured that they will continue their fight against this law until it is repealed. These feminists consider that this norm causes the "erasure" of women in statistics or in sport. In addition, they denounce that it distorts the Gender Violence law, raising the possibility that sexist aggressors can avoid their sentence or serve it in a women's prison if they request a sex change. Or the fact that trans women can benefit from the help that women receive.
In this sense, the text includes an article that guarantees that an aggressor will be tried and will serve his sentence according to the gender in which he was registered at the time of the event. While in another article it is determined that a man who has claimed the registered change of sex will not be able to benefit from aid for women.
This sector of feminism also denounces the sanctions that are imposed with this norm, which they consider a "gag" law. Specifically, from this Thursday, administrative fines will be imposed in "very serious" cases of up to 10,001 to 150,000 euros, which are those related to harassment or denying someone a job or rent for being LGTBI.
Although the most controversial have been the mild and serious ones related to "using or issuing vexatious expressions". According to the activists, their own criticisms of the law can be considered within this group.
This movement has called, on the other hand, to go en masse to the offices of the Civil Registry to request a change of sex.
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