With the new legislation, the requirement for gender dysphoria will also be removed.
The Swedish Parliament approved the controversial trans law on Wednesday with a clear majority. Parliament passed the amendment, which will facilitate legal gender reassignment, by a vote of 234 to 94. The Swedish public broadcasting company reports on the matter, among others SVT and news agency TT.
With the change in the law, the minimum age for legal confirmation of gender drops from 18 to 16 years.
With the new legislation, the requirement for gender dysphoria, i.e. a diagnosis of a comprehensive feeling of bad feeling caused by a gender discrepancy, will also be removed. This has generally been a long process.
Valtiopäivät approved the law change on Wednesday after a marathon debate. The parties Sweden Democrats and Christian Democrats opposed the change. They were accused of trying to drag out the discussion so that there would not have been time to vote on the matter on Wednesday.
Chairman of the Sweden Democrats Jimmie Åkersson complained about the decision to the media after the vote and said he hoped the law would be repealed as soon as possible.
– I think this is unfortunate. It is unfortunate that a law that clearly does not have the support of the people was voted through so easily. When it comes to children, as in this case, the matter becomes even more sensitive, says Åkersson.
The six other parties in the Swedish Diet have supported the now approved law change, but voices of gravel were also heard within them.
– Sweden finally has a modern gender identity law. It affects very few people’s lives. For those whose lives are affected by the law, this will be a completely new opportunity for a functional life, the chairman of the center party Muharrem Demirok says.
In Finland, the so-called trans law, i.e. the law on gender confirmation, entered into force in April last year.