Nearly 2000 Norwegians changed gender in the last decade
02-01-2023
Northern Europe
CNE.news
Photo AFP, Michele Spatari
Northern Europe
In the previous ten years, about 2000 Norwegians changed their gender. While politicians believe the development confirms that the change in the law was correct, critics fear it will cause great harm to young people.
The Legal Gender Act was introduced in Norway in 2016. Among other things, it implies that it was up to the individual to choose their legal gender. It can happen without having any diagnosis or medical treatment.
The age limit is 16 years. Children aged 6 to 16 years can be granted with the parent's consent.
According to the Swedish Tax Agency, around 1,000 people have changed from female to male, and about 900 changed gender from male to female.
Serious
According to Tone Trøen, a Conservative who is also head of the Health and Care Committee in the Norwegian parliament, the law is a good thing. "The fact that so many people have taken advantage of the opportunity shows that this was a completely correct change in the law that takes seriously the challenges many people face."
However, the figures worry Marianne Brattgjerd, associate professor at Nord University. It is a network for parents, relatives and professionals related to people with gender dysphoria. "The majority of those who have changed their legal gender are young people. It is often claimed that the increase in transgender people is because we have become a more open and tolerant society and that those who are truly trans finally dare to "come out of the closet". However, if this were the case, we would see a corresponding increase in several age groups, which we do not do. This "phenomenon" clearly affects young people, " Brattgjerd tells Dagen.
Concerned
In Denmark, more than twice as many people changed their legal gender in 2020-2021 as there was each year from 2015 to 2019. In the last year, the number was 370.
Theology student Morten Bangsgaard, a member of the Danish Ethics Council, is concerned about the development. He points out that, on the one hand, people can express their gender experience. "But it also means that to a lesser extent you have to get used to the identity that you have now been given", says Bangsgaard to the Christian daily Kristeligt Dagblad.
As CNE reported earlier, just before Christmas, Spain also introduced laws on legal gender with an age limit of 16.
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