The Riksdag, who make up the Swedish parliament, has passed a law that simplifies the procedure of gender reassignment for minors in the Nordic nation.
16-year-olds are now able to apply for surgical procedures to transition into the opposite sex with the approval of their parents and doctor, as opposed to the previous 18 years, per the new law, which becomes effective July 1, 2025.
Following an overwhelming 234 votes against a small group of 94 Christian Democrats, the Riksdag ditched a previous requirement that mandated citizens to be diagnosed with gender dysphoria — a state of distress for persons who claim to identify with a gender different from their biological sex — before they were allowed to transition.
Also, another administrative bottleneck that stretched the years of gender transition by seven years, was also scrapped.
“The process today is very long, it can take up to seven years to change your legal gender in Sweden,” AFP cited Peter Sidlund Ponkala, president of the Swedish Federation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Intersex Rights, as saying.
Children at 16 must, however, obtain consent of their parents, a certified doctor and the National Board of Health and Welfare before changing their gender.
By the new law, 18-year-olds would no longer need the board’s approval to change their gender.
But reproductive organs like the ovaries and testes will only be removed for persons who have clocked 23 years and above.
