What are trans self-ID laws and what impact do they have?

• Germany passes self-ID law
• Self-ID removes barriers to change legal gender
• Twelve European nations allow gender self-ID

Germany on Friday became the latest country to pass a gender self-identification law, removing the need for psychological assessments and a court process to transition.

The law will allow adults to change their gender by declaring their intention to do so at a registry office, while minors from the age of 14 will require consent from their legal guardian.

It ends the nation's 43-year-old Transsexuals Act, which made people undergo a costly court process and psychological assessments from two independent experts to transition. The new law will come into effect from November.

"Many people have waited for years for the legislation to be changed [...] self-determination is a major step in recognising gender diversity as equal," Kalle Hümpfner from the Bundesverband Trans*, a trans rights association in Germany, said ahead of the parliamentary vote.

A clause flagged by activists for posing a data privacy risk was removed from the law before it passed.

Trans self-identification laws have come under increasingly heated debate worldwide. LGBTQ+ groups that back self-ID laws say they greatly improve the lives of trans people, while opponents fear they endanger women and girls.

Countries that allow trans self-ID include Malta, Denmark, New Zealand and Argentina, with Spain and Finland passing laws in 2023.

Here's what you need to know about the process.

What is self-ID?

Self-ID allows trans people to self-determine their legal gender, without the need for a psychiatric diagnosis.

Many countries, such as Britain, require a person to be diagnosed with gender dysphoria - a discomfort people can feel if their gender identity does not match their body - before they can change gender.

They might also have to live as their acquired gender for two years, or in some places, undergo medical treatment or surgery.

Self-ID removes these demands and often shortens the wait, making it significantly easier to make the change.

Where does self-ID already exist?

At least 17 countries have nationwide self-identification laws, according to data collected by the International Lesbian Gay Bisexual Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA World). 

Nepal and Pakistan also use a self-ID process for people who identify with a third gender, or use a non-binary marker.

Argentina became the first country in the world to bring in trans self-ID in 2012, with more than 12,000 people changing their gender in the following decade.

Denmark became the first European country to adopt the process in 2014. Now that Germany has passed the new law, there are 12 countries in Europe that allow self-ID.

What is the controversy?

Trans activists say legal gender change processes are often invasive and take too long, while requirements for a diagnosis or treatment are unnecessarily medicalised and stigmatising.

"Legal gender recognition is essential for trans persons to be able to live a life of dignity and respect, but these procedures are often lengthy and downright humiliating," Julia Ehrt, executive director at ILGA-World, told Context/the Thomson Reuters Foundation last year.

Long waits mean trans people "are constantly exposed to the risk of violence and discrimination, and of seeing their most basic rights denied," she said.

The debate has become increasingly polarised in countries such as the United States and Britain, where a Scottish self-identification bill was blocked by the British government in 2023.

Opponents of self-ID laws have said they put women at risk as the process could be used by predatory men to gain access to single-sex spaces, while LGBTQ+ rights groups say data indicates those concerns are unfounded.

A legal gender change in many countries is not required to enter single-sex spaces such as women's toilets, or alter gender on many official documents, such as medical forms.

Critics also oppose under-18s being allowed to legally update their gender under some countries' laws.

In Argentina, there has been no evidence of a rise in violence against women since self-ID was introduced, with a government study revealing only one trans woman was accused and convicted of sexual abuse between 2013 and 2019.

This article was updated Friday, April 12, 2024 at 1:40 GMT to reflect Germany passing a gender self-identification law.