Spanish Congress passes transexual law

Spain's Congress of Deputies on Thursday approved a new law, which allows transsexuals without surgery to change their name and gender in the Civil Registry, providing a doctor formally states they have "gender dismorphia."

Spain's main opposition, the Popular Party, was the only group to vote against the Gender Identity Act.

Spain now has the most liberal laws on trans-gender issues in all of Europe, overtaking Britain, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Italy and Sweden, which have all legislated on the matter.

The new law, which entered the legislative process on June 2, 2006, means that a local government official, not a lawyer, can immediately authorize a new identity for a transsexual.

The non-governmental organizations estimated there are between 3,000 and 8,000 transsexuals in Spain, but only a third will ever apply for surgery, according to statistics published by Malaga's Carlos Haya hospital, the only Spanish hospital to perform the surgery for free.

2007-03-02