Comment on Norwegians now can change genders legally with a mouse click

By MARK LEWIS, Associated Press, San Francisco Chronicle: World
Tue, 09/27/2016 - 2:37am

Norwegians now can change genders legally with a mouse click

Provided they have parental consent, Norwegian children as young as 6 can now self-identify as male or female, effectively overruling the gender assigned to them at birth. [...] after completing an online form that generates a mailed response from tax authorities, applicants must only return a letter confirming their intention to change genders. Once their applications are approved, they receive a new national identification number that unlocks the ability to update all forms of identification, from passports and driver's licenses to birth certificates and credit cards. The tax ID numbers in Norway are gender-specific. [...] July, Norway was one of 32 European countries that required people to undergo long periods of counseling, hormone replacement and ultimately sex reassignment surgery before their gender changes would be legally recognized. When she was 5, concerned relatives and neighbors said Anna's mother was indulging a dangerous fantasy and accused her of projecting a desire for a daughter onto her son. Social workers monitored the family until doctors persuaded the child welfare agency that Anna's female identity was genuine. The Norwegian Association for Gender and Sexual Diversity, which helped draft the law, successfully lobbied to have the age threshold lowered from 7 to 6 so children could start school with their records already updated — heading off the sort of public transition Anna had. Harry Benjamin Resource Center President Mikael Scott Bjerkeli, whose Oslo organization works to make treatment accessible for transgender people to transition medically, thinks the law was rushed through. Because I really want to be Anna all the time, and now I am Anna, a girl, and I don't want to go back to being the boy.

 

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