From the age of 16, Portuguese citizens will be able to choose their gender without a "gender disruption" diagnosis. The bill also prohibits surgical procedures on inter-sex babies, so they can choose their gender later.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/J.M. Ribeiro
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The Portuguese parliament on Thursday approved a bill that will allow citizens to change their gender and name from the age of 16 without a medical diagnosis of "identity disruption."
Until now, people who wished to change their gender had to be 18 years old.
Portugal follows in the footsteps of Denmark, Malta, Sweden, Ireland and Norway to become "the sixth European country to grant the right to self-determination of transgender identity ... without the guardianship of a third party and without a diagnosis of identity disruption," said Sandra Cunha, a lawmaker from the Left Bloc party.
"Nobody needs a third party to know if they are a man or a woman, a boy or a girl," she said in the parliamentary debate ahead of the vote.
The bill also bans surgical procedures on inter-sex babies, who are born with male and female reproductive organs, so that they can choose their gender later in life.
A Portuguese law that has been in place since 2011 required transgender citizens to have a medical diagnosis that established gender dysphoria, a name given to cases where one's gender identity does not correspond to their biological sex.
The final step is for the new bill to be signed off by President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who vetoed the first version of the text adopted by parliament in mid-April.
Rebelo de Sousa said he was in favor of no longer considering transgender identity as "an abnormal pathology or mental situation," but he had wanted a medical report for cases involving minors aged 16 to 18 showing support for their decision.
Instead, the section of the law concerning minors has been amended and a medical report "which attests exclusively to the capacity of decision and informed will, without reference to a diagnosis of gender identity" will be required.
The approval of the law comes just weeks after the World Health Organization removed transgenderism from its list of mental disorders and instead categorized "gender incongruence" under "conditions related to sexual health," rather than "mental, behavioral and neurodevelopmental disorders."
Transgender models on magazine covers
Transgender models on magazine covers are no new phenomenon in an increasingly diverse world. These athletes and actresses have already hit the newsstands with a splash.
Giuliana Farfalla, German Playboy
A first for the German edition of Playboy: Reality television star and model Giuliana Farfalla made it to the cover of the magazine, published a week ahead of her appearance in the show "I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here!" The 21-year-old also appeared on "Germany's Next Top Model" in hopes to "encourage other transgender and transsexual people," she said.
Image: Playboy/Christopher von Steinbach
Caroline 'Tula' Cossey, Playboy
Playboy's first-ever transgender model, Caroline "Tula" Cossey, starred in a pictorial feature in 1981 (the above picture shows her on a later cover, from the 1990s). She, too, was fighting for recognition transgender rights. Hugh Hefner's son Cooper, now the creative director of Playboy Enterprises, said featuring transgender models was "the right thing to do."
Laverne Cox, Time Magazine
A trailblazer for the transgender community, Laverne Cox became the first openly transgender person to appear on the cover of Time magazine in 2014. Cox is known to a wider audience for her role as a trans woman prisoner, the hairdresser Sophia Burset, on the popular Netflix series "Orange is the New Black."
National Geographic special issue on gender
Featuring a nine-year-old transgender person on its cover, the January 2017 special issue looked at how young people from around the world, "old enough to have sage views on gender," are affected by gender issues. The issue also examined challenges for girls today — including anonymous bullying and body-shaming — and how "society makes a man."
Caitlyn Jenner, Vanity Fair
Former Olympic gold medalist Bruce Jenner publicly announced the name change to Caitlyn and her identity as a trans woman in a July 2015 Vanity Fair cover story. She also starred in the docu-series "I Am Cait," which documented her gender transition and subsequent new life as a woman.
Amelia Gapin, Women's Running
In July 2016, marathon runner Amelia Gapin was featured on the cover of Women's Running. "Being a transgender woman on the cover of a magazine dedicated to women says people like me are not just being seen, but being seen for who we are," she told the magazine in an interview. "It's a feeling of acceptance, inclusivity and being welcomed."
Hari Nef, Elle UK
Featured on the cover of Elle UK in September 2016, US actor and model Hari Nef would rather not be defined by gender. "'In an ideal world, I wouldn't have to change my body," she told the magazine. "I wouldn't have to do all this stuff, I wouldn't have to be pretty, or 'feminine' and people would respect that."
Valentina Sampaio, Vogue Paris
Vogue Paris put a transgender model on its cover for the first time in March 2017: Brazil's Valentina Sampaio. "The day when a transsexual poses for a magazine cover and it will be no longer necessary to write an editorial on the subject, we will know that the fight has been won," said the fashion magazine's editor-in-chief Emmanuelle Alt.
Ben Melzer, Men's Health Germany
Muscle-packed arms, a six-pack and a beard: Ben Melzer, the first openly male transgender model to star on the cover of Men's Health, also hopes he can change attitudes. He underwent the change from woman to man at age 23. He's now, he says, "the person I always wanted to be." He wants to be an example for others who feel they were "born in the wrong body," adding, "it is 100 percent worth it."
