The Government of Catalonia already has the draft trans law ready and in the public information phase with the aim of providing a stable regulatory framework and another step towards the effective exercise of free gender self-determination. The Ministry of Equality articulates the development of the rights of trans people, adults and minors, without avoiding any competition. It thus addresses the ever-discussed debate about the rights of minors to access medical treatment and establishes that “as a general rule, and especially in the case of those over 12 to 16, it must be ensured that the final decision respects the opinion of the minor and which is shared by their legal representatives. In case of discrepancy, you can go to mediation”.
This is what is established in article 18 of the draft, and the ministry wanted to specify yesterday that the objective is to reach agreements between minors and parents and that access to treatment must have consent of both
The approach to minors is always controversial, and this was reflected in the political and social debate that arose after the presentation of Irene Montero’s trans law to the Council of Ministers with the free self-determination of sex in the registers. Feminism broke down in the debate surrounding the right to define oneself as a man or woman apart from biological sex, but also about the extent to which minors, in the construction phase, can recognize their sexual or gender identity.
The Catalan Government’s project establishes that, once they turn 16, trans people will only need their own consent. The legal text underlines the need for minors “to receive information adapted to their age, maturity and understanding” so that they can make a “free and informed” decision.
The preliminary draft has entered the public information phase, which lasts fifteen days, and will have to have mandatory reports before it is approved by the Executive Council. The ERC Government is putting a debate on the table in the final stretch of the legislature to underline its trans-inclusive profile. But first it will be necessary to see if there is time for the approval of the government project before the legislature does not fall. In the event that it reaches Parliament, it does not seem at all easy for it to be able to count on the support of the PSC and Junts.
The project aims to provide a stable legal framework to a set of protocols and practices that are already being developed in one way or another in Catalonia. The portfolio of health services that trans people have the right to receive -reproductive treatments, hormones…- is clearly defined, and the protection of diversity in gender identity and expression is established in schools and universities
In the social field, the ministry emphasizes attention to trans people who are at risk of social exclusion. In this sense, the situation of people who have been expelled from their homes because of their gender identity is addressed and the guaranteed income of citizenship will be granted to people under 23 and over 18 who have been victims of any kind of violence or discrimination. In this type of violence, expulsion from one’s home is included.
With regard to the competences of the Generalitat in sports matters, the preliminary project establishes that trans people will compete under the same conditions in accordance with the expressed gender identity (see attached information).
The draft “comprehensive law recognizing the right to gender identity and expression” also provides for the introduction of a third box for “non-binary” people, alongside those of women and men, in the documents of the Generalitat’s public administrations . Likewise, and if the change of gender in the records has not been done or is to be done, a “gender identity communication” will be established to be able to access the goods and services of the Catalan Administration.
The project of the Executive of Pere Aragonès emphasizes that the right to “free self-determination of identity and gender expression and the right to live free from discrimination and violence are human rights”, in a rule that also seeks equality of opportunities in terms of the labor field. The Government paves the way, but in a political situation in which approval is expected to be difficult.
