Dutch lawmakers pass gender-identity law

Trans people will be able to change gender on documents with 'expert' statement

By a 51 to 24 vote, Dutch lawmakers passed legislation that allows trans people to change their gender classification on official documents without being required to undergo surgery and sterilization or obtain court permission.

An NIS News Bulletin says that under the new measure, an “expert” need only attest to the desire of transgender people to change their gender identification, after which municipal authorities can process the change without judicial involvement.

“This law is a victory for transgender people in the Netherlands,” the chairpersons of Transgender Network Netherlands and COC Netherlands say in a statement. “There is an end to all the humiliating situations that transgenders still daily deal with because the sex designation on their paper is different from the gender in which they live.”

But BuzzFeed notes that the two organizations feel the law requires some revisions, specifically the elimination of an age requirement and the need for expert sanction.

The new law is scheduled to take effect in July 2014.

Natasha Barsotti is originally from Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean. She had high aspirations of representing her country in Olympic Games sprint events, but after a while the firing of the starting gun proved too much for her nerves. So she went off to university instead. Her first professional love has always been journalism. After pursuing a Master of Journalism at UBC , she began freelancing at Xtra West — now Xtra Vancouver — in 2006, becoming a full-time reporter there in 2008.

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