Blocked since February, the Ley Trans negotiations in Spain suddenly resumed. Internal sources have confirmed that the government has unblocked the process for the law -which had stopped thanks to thePSOE abstentionwhich is expected to be taken to the Council of Ministers. 29 Junein the midst of the Pride celebrations. The big obstacle facing the members of the executive, Podemos and PSOE, was the so-called free gender self-determination which assumes it is a person's willingness to change his or her name and sex is sufficient, with no need for medical reports or ongoing hormone therapy as is the case now. The consensual solution includes a three-month administrative waiting period from the time of the request for change, so that the person can ratify his or her decision.
For the Ministry of Equality, led by Irene Montero, who is negotiating and trying to pass this law, free gender self-determination was untouchable, as it was for the LGTBI and trans groups who were consulted and heard during the debate. Free gender self-determination will be included in the law, as written by El Periódico and confirmed by EL PAÍS.
In the draft of design by law for the real and effective equality of trans people and for guaranteeing the rights of LGTBI people, to which EL PAÍS has had access and which may be subject to change, states that 'qany person of Spanish nationality over the age of 16 may independently request the Civil Registry to rectify the mention of their sex registration.. It is also said that "within a maximum period of three months"From the time of his first appearance, the person in charge of the Civil Registry must summon the person to ratify his request, "affirming the persistence of its decision". Once confirmed, the resolution will be issued ".within a maximum period of one month from the date of the second appearance". That is, the total time will be up to a maximum of four months. This administrative procedure convinced the first vice-president of the government, Carmen Calvo (PSOE) who had been the most reticent with this rule, for which he called for 'legal certainty'.
When the draft law prepared by the European Commission was announced in February, the Equality, Calvo publicly denied that sex could only be changed by will. and called for "legal certainty" so that the text would not be changed by the Constitutional Court, as Vox and PP hope it will be. Behind the words of Calvo and Spanish socialism, the mobilisation of the feminist movement, which fears that the change could have irreparable consequences for women's protection laws.
In the last week there have been many meetings and 'at all levels' to unblock the situation. Vice-President Carmen Calvo, Equality Minister Irene Montero, and Justice Minister Juan Carlos Campo met on Friday. The meeting resulted in the commitment of bring the text to the Council of Ministers on 29 June, in time for the Pride celebration, and to continue negotiating. After that first step, the text will still have to go through the review of the advisory bodies and all the parliamentary acts in the Cortes, with contributions and amendments from the rest of the groups before its eventual approval as law.
There were also meetings with different trans and LGTBI groupsvery active in negotiating the text. Representatives of the State Federation of Lesbian, Gay, Transgender and Bisexual people (FELGTB), of the association Chrysallis families with trans children and the foundation Triángulo went to La Moncloa on 7 June to present their proposals and try to unblock the negotiations. They were urgently summoned after they had called a press conference on the difficulties in implementing the law. Both these groups and Equality have proposed a time limit of three months for the Civil Registry and rejected the need for a witness or a third person, as proposed by the PSOE, to accredit the request for a change of register.
Differences between the government partners have led the Socialist Party to even vote against - with PP and Vox - the attempt to activate the 'trans law' in Congress where the minority groups adopted it. That was on 18 May. On that day, the Minister of Equality asked for the floor to "apologise" to LGTBI groups and pledge to recognise "self-determination of gender identity" before Pride.
The current draft merges the two laws that the partners in the Executive had agreed in their government agreement, one on trans people and the other LGTBI, although the final text gives preponderance to the recognition of trans people as requested by both groups and Equality. The details to close this joint text are still missing, but what was the main difficulty from the start has been saved: free gender self-determination.
Currently, the person who wants to change name and sex on the DNI must request a medical examination, start a hormonal process and obtain a psychiatric certificate, which lengthens the process between two and three years according to the organisations' calculations. The text of the draft is in line with the proposal that the PSOE itself put forward in Congress and which was approved in the House in 2019, as well as with the laws already approved in 13 autonomous communities, the last one being the Canary Islands, which do not include periods of reflection.
The draft presented in February by Equality also included the free gender self-determination for minors, another point that raised concerns. The organisations had proposed to divide the change into three tranches. Children under the age of 12 could only apply for a name change, not a sex change, with the support of their families. From the age of 12 to 16, accompanied also by family members or guardians, they could have their sex and name changed, and from 16 onwards without any protection. The draft currently authorises a change of name and sex registration from the age of 14. Between the ages of 12 and 14 it can be done in court. If the parents do not agree, a lawyer will be appointed.
Age brackets are one of the aspects that will continue to be negotiated over the next few days before the text is taken to the Council of Ministers, in order to try to lower the limit to 12 years and to provide, as several regional laws already do, that trans minors can, at any age, change their names in schools to facilitate the transition. Issues relating to access to health care for trans people or the inclusion of trans people are also being negotiated. assisted reproductive treatment for lesbian, bisexual and 'persons with the capacity to bear children'.
The text of the law, the objective of which is "develop and ensure"the rights of LGTBI persons to ensure that in Spain "affective, sexual and family diversity can be experienced in complete freedom"According to the explanatory memorandum, it provides for further measures. These are some of them:
Protecting the laws of equality. The draft expressly stipulates that by changing his/her sex in the registry, the person will not be a retroactive beneficiary of the positive discrimination measures included in the Equality Act, passed in 2007. This registry adjustment also provides that it will not eliminate the "legal obligations" that the person had previously, in particular those included in the Global Law Against Gender Violence of 2004.
Prohibition of conversion therapies. These are practices intended to "modify the sexual orientation and identity or gender expression of persons". The draft prohibits them even when they have the consent of the person concerned or their legal representatives. They are considered a 'very serious' offence, punishable by fines of up to €150,000.
filiation of children born to unmarried women. In couples consisting of a man and a woman, it is sufficient for the man to assume paternity in order to obtain filiation of a child. But in the case of an unmarried female couple this is not permitted, and in order for the partner of the biological mother to appear as the parent of the newborn child, adoption must take place, which means a waiting period during which the second mother is not recognised, has no rights or obligations towards the child, or the child about her. The draft provides for the amendment of Article 120 of the Civil Code so that for non-marital filiation it allows that "at the time of registration of the birth" the "father or non-pregnant parent"make a declaration in conformityin the corresponding official form"..
LGTBI diversity in education. The government, after consultation with the autonomous communities, according to the draft will include "content related to the treatment of sexual-affective and family diversity of LGTBI persons" in programmes for admission, access and the training of teaching bodies. In addition, the administrations "will promote the introduction of positive LGTBI references in school materials, in a natural, respectful and transversal way, at all levels of study and according to subject and age".
Infringements. The draft considers, among other serious infringements, "the introduction, promotion or toleration of discriminatory labour practices based on sexual orientation and identity, gender expression or sexual characteristics in companies receiving subsidies, bonuses or public aid'.. And among the most serious crimes, the use or dissemination in educational centres of textbooks and materials ".presenting people as superior or inferior in human dignity on the basis of their sexual orientation and identity, gender expression or sexual characteristics'..
ON 26 JUNE, FEMINIST DEMONSTRATIONS HAVE BEEN CALLED IN SEVERAL CITIES IN SPAIN. ON THAT OCCASION, A MANIFESTO WILL BE SHARED WITH YOU, WHICH WE ANTICIPATE HERE
FEMINIST MANIFESTO 26 JUNE 2021
IN SUPPORT OF THE FEMINIST AGENDA, AGAINST TRANSGENDER LEGISLATION
Unfortunately, the regression in the protection of our rights as women is already an undeniable reality.
The offensive of the alliance between patriarchy and neo-liberal capitalism against women in general, and against the feminist movement in particular, is leading us to a criminal situation both in our country and in the rest of the world, subverting all our claims and penetrating our entire legal system . Our analysis is clear: those who have claimed to be our allies and call themselves "the most feminist government in history" are transforming our laws, against the feminist agenda that they have been fighting for the last 300 years.
With the complicit inertia of the head of government, the Ministry of Equality has ignored and scorned the feminist movement, promoting anti-women legislation. Moreover, regardless of political persuasion, regional parliaments are being used as back doors to transform all laws under their jurisdiction, increasing the lack of legal protection and consolidating a regression in terms of violence, sexual and reproductive rights and material and symbolic discrimination against women in all spheres, as well as the most basic rights of children and adolescents.
This has led the feminist movement to take to the streets today to demand of central and regional governments: FULL REALISATION OF THE FEMINIST AGENDA, STOP AND REPEAL OF "TRANS LAWS". Yes, in the plural, "trans laws", because they include all legislation that replaces the legal category of "sex" with "gender identity". Added to this are the so-called Trans Laws, LGTBI Laws and Zerolo Laws, about to be introduced in Parliament, which would criminalise people who, in the exercise of their fundamental right to freedom of expression, defend the use of the words woman, mother, vulva, or "misuse" pronouns, by imposing fines of up to €150,000. Freedom of expression has already been curtailed in other places, such as Scotland, where a fortnight ago we witnessed the arrest and trial of Marion Millar for simply posting a suffragette tape on Twitter. Of women suffragettes.
In this spirit, we call for the repeal of all or part of the laws that threaten women's and children's rights, as well as fundamental rights and public freedoms, such as the recently enacted Rhodes Law (on the protection of children against violence) and some provisions of the Celáa Law (on education), which generate confusion about the obligation to educate for EQUALITY, without distorting its meaning in terms of "diversity", as is already happening. We also call for the repeal of transnational regional legislation including, among others, 15 laws on "gender self-determination", 14 educational protocols and 15 health protocols that allow - even in the absence of a national law recognising the right to self-determination - sex determination, the implementation of sexist educational policies, the violation of women's rights based on sex (allowing men access to our spaces and perverting statistics) and the indiscriminate hormone treatment of children. And this despite the fact that neighbouring countries (such as the UK, Sweden and Finland) that passed these laws are now backtracking and banning the use of puberty blockers due to their irreversible and harmful side effects. Finally, we denounce the use of transnational legislation to allow rapists and murderers access to women's prisons; we are outraged and indignant about this.
Today we cannot fail to recall here the murder of Vanesa Santana in Fuerteventura, whose rapist and murderer, Jonathan Robaina, declared himself a woman on the first day of her trial (just three days after the unanimous approval of the Trans Law in the Canarian parliament), which, had it not been for the team of forensic experts who, in contravention of regional legislation on the affirmation of 'gender identity', denied the existence of gender dysphoria, would have ended once again with the transfer of a murderer of women to a women's prison under the protection of Instruction 7/2006 and Trans Law 3/2007, with consequent danger to the physical integrity of the inmates. Something that the Ministry of Equality and the rest of the government denied ad nauseam that it was allowed under trans laws, "#ThisWouldNotHappen" they said, but it happened.
IN THIS SCENARIO, FACED WITH THE OFFENSIVE DIRECTED BY THE INSTITUTIONS AGAINST THE RIGHTS OF HALF THE POPULATION AND THE GOVERNMENT'S EVASIONS, THIS #26J THE FEMINIST MOVEMENT WILL FILL THE STREETS WITH DIGNITY TO BE PUBLICLY DEMANDED:
AMENDING AND EXTENDING THE LAW ON VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN WITH ALL THE PROTOCOLS, MEASURES AND APPROPRIATE FUNDS TO EFFECTIVELY COMBAT IT #AgainstMaleTerrorism #NotOneMore #NotOneMinus #VWeWeLive #We want to fight male violence #We want to fight vicarious violence APPROVAL OF A LAW FOR THE ABOLITION OF PROSTITUTION THAT PROHIBITS ALL SEXUAL ACCESS TO WOMEN FOR MONEY: A LAW WORTHY OF A DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY AND NOT A SIMULACRUM OF PERSECUTION OF SEXUAL EXPLOITATION LIKE THE TRAFFICKING LAW THAT WILL SOON BE DISCUSSED IN OUR PARLIAMENT. #AbolitionistLawNow #AgainstTheProstitutionalSystem #ProstitutionAbolition #PornographyAbolition #ProstitutionIsSlavery #NeitherSexNorWork #RapeIsNotFiction
Repeal of the INSTRUCTION OF THE MINISTRY OF JUSTICE PERMITTING IN SPAIN THE REGISTRATION OF CHILDREN BORN FROM THE REPRODUCTIVE EXPLOITATION OF POOR WOMEN FROM OTHER COUNTRIES. #STOPWombsForRent #STOPBabyTrafficking #STOPOvumTrafficking #WeAreNotVessels #NoToReproductiveExploitation
AND THE END OF THE TREATMENT OF "TRANS" LAWS THAT DESTROY WOMEN AND DESTROY OUR RIGHTS, THOSE OF CHILDREN, HOMOSEXUAL PEOPLE AND PEOPLE AFFECTED BY GENDER Dysphoria, AND THE REPEAL OF ALL ARTICLES THAT INTRODUCT THE QUEER AGENDA IN OUR LEGAL SYSTEM. #NoTransLaw #NoGenderSelfID #SexIsNotGender #TransLawIsMisogyny #WomanIsNotAFeeling #NoToHormoneTherapyandMutilationofChildren #DontTouchChildren #StopCriminalFashions
Needs to which we must add the DENOMINATION OF THE PACT OF SILENCE THAT PREVENTS THE CRITICAL VOICES OF FEMINISTS AND THE MULTIPLE EXPERTS FROM LISTENING TO THE PUBLIC MEDIA, IN FAVOUR OF AN OFFENSIVE THAT DESTROYS OUR RIGHTS, WITH MEDIA COLLUDING WITH THE PROPAGANDA OF THE QUEER AGENDA FUNDED BY THE PHARMACEUTICAL AND ECONOMIC LOBBIES OF LARGE INTERNATIONAL CORPORATIONS.
Women, comrades, sisters, feminism is on the move and history has shown us that the struggle is effective and essential. We recently had the opportunity to see this again when we learned of the Employment Appeal Tribunal's ruling in favour of Maya Forstater, a year and a half after she was sacked from the Centre for Global Development in the UK for tweeting and writing about the implications of gender self-determination for women's rights.
THIS #26J THE FEMINIST MOVEMENT WILL RAISE ITS SECULAR VOICE TO SAY THAT: #WeWontBeSilence #WeWontBeErased #TheyShallNotPass
BECAUSE TOGETHER WE ARE INVINCIBLE AND WE WILL NOT STOP UNTIL WE ACHIEVE FREEDOM: LONG LIVE THE WOMEN'S STRUGGLE! LONG LIVE THE FEMINIST STRUGGLE!
here the article by EL PAÍStranslated by Marina Terragni
