In an unusual attack on established rights, the right wing opposition has proposed limiting the possibility of legal gender reassignment. Fortunately, it was flatly rejected by the rest of the parties in the Danish Parliament at the first reading yesterday.

The resolution has shown – perhaps contrary to what the proposers had hoped for – that there is even very broad support for the current legislation for legal gender change.

When the Act on self id was passed in 2014, it was only with about half of the seats in the Danish Parliament. Today, almost two thirds of our elected representatives support the Act.

The Act is therefore a huge success – not only for the many people it helps, but it has also increased parliamentary support for transgender people in Denmark.

The debate focused on why the backers of the resolution could not point out general problems with the self id Act. Instead, the critics highlight individual examples– all of which have already been resolved by the judiciary or others, in the way the critics themselves want.

At LGBT+ Denmark, we unfortunately recognize both the rhetoric and the logic from abroad. It is hardly distinguishable to the suspicion cast on LGBT+ people andthe  attacks on our rights that we have seen in recent years in Hungary, Russia, the United States and other countries.

We hope that the resolution will be the end of a disappointing trend. So that Danish politics again can be based on pragmatism and real life experiences from civil society rather than imported scare stories.

A warm thank you to the politicians who took the podium yesterday! Your wholehearted support for transgender people means a lot to our environment.

“I think it is right and fair that we have self id. It means a lot to some very vulnerable people. We can see that 3,000 Danes have changed their legal gender in the last ten years and it has made a difference.”
Equality spokesperson Gunvor Wibroe (S)

“It is the government’s opinion that the right to legal gender change is not a violation of the rights of others.”
Minister for Gender Equality Magnus Heunicke (S)

“[Legal gender reassignment] is a non-problem for the average Dane, and [challenges] are solved locally. We have also seen this in the Correctional Service, the High Court and the Supreme Court.”
“The Moderates believe that we have a sensible regulation of legal gender change in Denmark.”
Equality Spokesperson Rosa Bechmann Eriksen (M)

“It would be easier if everyone felt like the gender they were born with. But there are some who don’t. And as the backers themselves write, it is absolutely crucial for these people to be able to have legal gender change. I acknowledge and respect that. If we as a majority society can do something to make other people’s lives easier, then we should do it.”
Political spokesman Jan E. Jørgensen (V)

“Feeling that you are not comfortable in your body is not a new phenomenon. There has always been people who felt different from the body they were born in. The fact that we now have a word for it does not mean that the experience is new – only that we have better opportunities to understand and acknowledge it.”
Mads Olsen (SF)