Scotland, Spain Move to Simplify Legal Gender Changes
Scotland and Spain have both advanced legislation making it easier for transgender people to legally change their gender.Both bills require further steps before they become law.
Scotland, as part of the United Kingdom, needs royal assent for its bill, while Spain’s legislation has been passed by one house of its Parliament but needs the approval of another, something that is expected.Scotland’s Parliament voted 86-39 Thursday to ease the process of obtaining what’s called a gender recognition certificate, the BBC reports.
It will lower the age for application from 18 to 16 and will require applicants “to have lived in their acquired gender for three months — or six months if they are aged 16 and 17 — rather than two years,” according to the BBC.
Also, applicants will no longer need to have a diagnosis of gender dysphoria.Scotland is the first nation in the U.K. to make a legal gender change easier.
