The Swedish parliament enacts legislation to facilitate legal gender identity transitions for minors.

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Denmark’s COPENHAGEN (AP) | On April 17, the Swedish parliament passed a measure reducing the legal age of transitioning from 18 to 16 years old. The National Board of Health and Welfare, a doctor, and a guardian are still required to approve those under the age of 18.

A gender dysphoria diagnosis—which is no longer necessary—is characterized by medical professionals as the psychological anguish that people who express their gender nonconformingly feel.

Sweden now has comparable regulations to Denmark, Norway, Finland, and Spain, among other nations.

Denmark’s COPENHAGEN (AP) | On April 17, the Swedish parliament passed a measure reducing the legal age of transitioning from 18 to 16 years old. The National Board of Health and Welfare, a doctor, and a guardian are still required to approve those under the age of 18.

A gender dysphoria diagnosis—which is no longer necessary—is characterized by medical professionals as the psychological anguish that people who express their gender nonconformingly feel.

Sweden now has comparable regulations to Denmark, Norway, Finland, and Spain, among other nations.

The Moderates and Liberals had overwhelmingly supported the measure, while the minor Christian Democrats were opposed to it, causing division in Kristersson’s center-right government.

The Swedish Federation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex Rights, or RFSL as it is known in Sweden, is led by Peter Sidlund Ponkala, who described the law’s passing as “a step in the right direction” and “a recognition for everyone who has been waiting for decades for a new law.”

The organization’s youth branch chairman, Elias Fjellander, predicted that it would improve members’ quality of life. In a statement, Fjellander stated, “Going forward, we are pushing to strengthen gender-affirming care, to introduce a third legal gender, and to ban conversion attempts.”

Similar legislation, which facilitates name and gender changes for transgender, intersex, and nonbinary individuals immediately at registrar offices, was approved by German parliament last Friday.

In the United Kingdom, a bill allowing anyone 16 years of age or older to self-declare their gender identification on identity documents was enacted by the Scottish parliament in 2022. The British government vetoed it, and Scotland’s highest civil court upheld the ruling in December. The laws differentiated Scotland from the United Kingdom as a whole, where a medical diagnosis is not necessary and the minimum age is 18.

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