Support among MPs for birth certificate sex change is still unclear

Pink for a girl and blue for a boy. Photo: Depositphotos.com
Photo: Depositphotos.com

It is still unclear if there is majority support or not for government plans to make it easier for transgender people to change their sex on their birth certificates following a parliamentary debate which ran over two days.

Two of the four government parties – the VVD and CDA – say they want the government to make sure that people who wish to change sex have thought about it properly, but are prepared to ditch the current compulsory doctor or psychiatrist’s statement.

They have now asked legal protection minister Franc Weerwind to come up with ideas to include a more informal conversation about the impact of changing sex into the conditions for changing sex. Until then, neither party will say whether they will back the new law or not.

The support of the VVD in particular is needed to win majority support.

The legislation gives transgender people the right to change the sex listed on their birth certificate to M or V, but not  X without an expert’s statement.

The law will also reduce the age at which someone can apply to formally change the way their sex is registered from 18 to 16, without the intervention of a judge.

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