It is a new demand for freedom, that of choosing your gender, which does not necessarily correspond to the gender that nature has chosen for you.
This freedom is today in the hands of justice, or of the State, which can constrain the definition of legal identity. And some countries are now posing as pioneers. In Ireland, Belgium, Norway, and since January 1, 2022 in Switzerland, it is no longer necessary to start complex administrative procedures to officially change gender on your identity card. No medical diagnosis or hormone therapy is required either. You just have to go to the civil registry. Between 100 and 200 people would be affected in the country. In Geneva, Jérémie Lanche went to ask the main interested parties what the scope of this new law was.
German transgender MP
And she did not ask to officially change her identity papers. Tessa Ganserer is one of only two transgender members of the German Parliament. Born a man, she is now a woman, but refuses to beg for new papers from the courts. The environmentalist party of which she is a member, wants to carry out a reform to allow, as in Switzerland, an easy change of identity. In Berlin, Deborah Berlioz went to meet the deputy.
A gender-neutral Belgian identity card
And in Belgium, the government announces that the mention of feminine or masculine could soon disappear from identity cards because it is useless. A logic which is that chosen by other European countries, such as Malta, Austria, Portugal or Denmark. We find our correspondent Pierre Benazet in Brussels.
Kosovo, step by step
And we are still a long way from statewide reform. But, in the Balkans, in Kosovo, justice allowed two years ago to a man who feels like a woman, to officially change his name and sex. But, the decision should not set a precedent. The explanations of Simon Rico.
In a nutshell: Finlandization
And for our In a nutshell column, we have chosen to decipher the word Finlandization. A word that is talked about a lot, at the beginning of February 2022, especially about Ukraine. Corn finlandization, it’s a word that reminds us of the Cold War, so frightening and divisive. Our correspondent in Scandinavia Anne-Francoise Hivert explains to us why this word, which could be compared to neutrality, disturbs, including French President Emmanuel Macron.