Sweden: Change of gender facilitated in civil status

After four years of waiting, Jenny Leonor Werner, 22, sees the light at the end of the tunnel, because she will be able to change its genre in the civil status, thanks to the new law entered into force on July 1, in Sweden. “I contacted the teenager’s house, from July 1, to make an appointment,” she testifies, enthusiastic with AFP.

To make a gender change in civil status, it is now enough to provide a medical certificate attesting that its genre does not correspond to that indicated on the birth certificate. The health professional assesses two things: the gender change must better correspond to the identity of the person’s gender and he must ensure that the person will live with this gender identity in a lasting way.

The minimum age to carry out this process was also lowered from 18 to 16 years, but for minors, the parents’ agreement is needed. One week after the entry into force of the law, 106 people had submitted a request, according to the National Agency for Health and Social Services (SocialStyrelsen).

Previously, people wanting to change their genre had to submit to a long evaluation in order to obtain a diagnosis of “transsexualism”. Access to surgical sex change interventions is also simplified by this new law, the condition of having already changed gender in civil status having been deleted.

The adoption of this law in April 2024 had been preceded by intense debates in Parliament, the right coalition in power having been divided between moderates and liberals favorable to the text and, on the other, Christian Democrats and the extreme right of the Democrats of Sweden – supporters of the executive – which opposed it.

“This law is a great advance. The clear distinction between the legal and the medical is facilitating the procedure for transgender persons, “said Frank Berglund, expert in sexual policy within the NGO Swedish Federation for Sex Education (RFSU), to AFP.

“And the law no longer requires being binary, non-binary people can therefore change its civil status as well”, even if there is not yet the third kind, “he adds. Frank Berglund, 30, changed gender in civil status at 19. As with Jenny Leonor Werner, it took him about four years to obtain the diagnosis “transsexualism”.

Currently, the waiting time even before you can start an assessment for “gender assertions” can reach several years, according to SocialStyrelsen. Sweden notes a strong increase in cases of gender dysphoria, a particularly visible trend among 13-17 year olds born of female sex, with a leap of 1,500% between 2008 and 2018, according to the National Health Agency.

With this law, Sweden has changed its legislation on gender membership for the first time since 1972. The Nordic country had then been the first state in the world to legislate on gender change.