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full screen Christian Carlsson (KD), is chairman of the Riksdag’s social affairs committee. Archive image. Photo: Samuel Steén/TT
The Tidö parties disagree about a new gender identity law.
A proposal is now being processed where M and L tour the government office.
Attempts by SD and KD to postpone the decision have so far failed.
The Christian Democrats do not want to change the gender identity law. That is why the Moderates and Liberals chose last autumn to bypass the government office and instead go directly to the Riksdag with the issue.
During Thursday, the proposal is prepared in the social committee and in April it will be voted on.
– I feel very secure that we are six parties that stand behind it. There are parties that have wanted to go further, but they also stand behind this, says moderate Riksdag member Johan Hultberg.
“Hurried Process”
KD and SD, on the other hand, are critical. Recently, they tried to delay a decision by sending it to a new round of consultation, which would have meant that there probably wouldn’t be a decision until the autumn. The initiative was voted down by the other parties in the Riksdag.
Something that the committee’s chairman Christian Carlsson (KD) is disappointed about.
– Now we get a rushed process instead of listening to what the experts think, he says.
The proposal on the table wants to make it possible to change legal gender at the age of 16, as opposed to the current age of 18. Those who want to change their legal gender should also no longer have to be diagnosed with gender dysphoria, but it should be sufficient to have a healthcare contact beforehand.
Christian Carlsson believes that a lot has happened in the area in recent years, which means that the proposal should be given another round with experts. Among other things, new recommendations from the National Board of Health and Welfare.
– More and more people are questioning the science of the treatments that are carried out and more people are saying that they regret their interventions. We want to avoid things going wrong and think that the precautionary principle must prevail, he says.
Hoping for S
However, Johan Hultberg thinks that it is mixing up the cards.
– The proposal we are putting forward is about legal gender. They like to link it to the medical issues. There has been new knowledge support that we welcome, but it ends up outside of this, he says.
The final decision will be adjusted in the committee on April 4 and the Riksdag will vote on April 17. Christian Carlsson says that he hopes that members of parliament from other parties, such as the Social Democrats, will change their minds by then.
S-women’s chairwoman Annika Strandhäll has previously stated that she is against the proposal.
However, S-member Fredrik Lundh Sammeli, who is vice chairman of the social committee, told Expressen earlier this week that his view is that the proposal has broad support and that the parties in the Riksdag “seem to be able to handle this”.
The FACTS around the Gender Identity Act
In February last year, the government promised a bill on a new gender identity law. It didn’t happen that way because the governing parties didn’t manage to come to an agreement.
Instead, M and L chose to come forward with their own proposal in the Riksdag. The proposal is based on a legislative council referral that was drawn up by the former S government.
The proposal means, among other things, that the age for changing legal gender should be lowered from 18 to 16 years. Nor should a diagnosis of gender dysphoria be required before, as is the case today, but contact with care is sufficient as a basis.
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