Gender self-identification or gender self-determination is the concept that a person's legal sex or gender is determined by their gender identity without any medical requirements, such as via statutory declaration.[1][2][3][4]
It is a major goal of the transgender rights movement.[1][2][3][5] Advocates of self-identification say that medical requirements are intrusive and humiliating gatekeeping, that they could force transgender people into undergoing surgery, and that self-identification would make it easier for transgender people to live day-to-day without prejudice. Advocates also argue that there is no evidence that such laws have caused problems in countries where they have been introduced, such as in Ireland, where self-identification was introduced in 2015.[2][6] Self-identification is opposed by some feminists,[2][3][5][7] who consider safety in places like refuges and prisons, and fairness in sports, to be adversely affected.[5][8][9][10]
As of November 2024, gender self-identification, where no judge or medical expert are involved, is part of the law in 21 countries: Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Denmark, Ecuador, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and Uruguay.[11][12][13] Proposals to introduce it have proved controversial in some countries, such as the United Kingdom.[3] Within countries organized as federations, such as Australia, Canada and Mexico, legal gender recognition may principally fall under sub-national jurisdiction, and may vary from province to province. Within a single jurisdiction, legal gender recognition procedures can be different for different documents, such as birth certificates or passports, and is not always the sole determinant of gender recognition in day-to-day life, such as in healthcare, access to facilities, or in personal relations. Third gender self-determination is available in India, Nepal,[12] Bangladesh, Colombia, Argentina, Australia, New Zealand and some American states.[14]
- ^ a b Zimman, Lal (1 March 2019). "Trans self-identification and the language of neoliberal selfhood: Agency, power, and the limits of monologic discourse". International Journal of the Sociology of Language (256): 147–175. doi:10.1515/ijsl-2018-2016. S2CID 150715919.
For trans people, a key principle of activism is gender self-determination, which treats each individual as the ultimate authority on their own gender identity....Self-identification is a lynchpin of transgender identity politics in the United States and, increasingly, throughout the globalizing world.
- ^ a b c d "Continental Europe enters the gender wars". The Economist. 12 June 2021. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
Self-id, as it is known, is the idea that people be allowed to change the legal markers of their sex simply by saying so, without jumping through any medical hoops. Trans-rights groups say this is crucial for trans people, who face daily prejudice.
- ^ a b c d "Explained: Countries that allow gender self-identification, and the law in India". The Indian Express. 1 July 2021. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
Self-identification, or 'self-id', is the concept that a person should be allowed to legally identify with the gender of their choice by simply declaring so, and without facing any medical tests. This has been a long held demand of trans-right groups around the world
- ^ Weaver, Matthew (3 May 2021). "Gender recognition certificate fee cut from £140 to £5". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
- ^ a b c Lewis, Helen (5 May 2021). "The Party Whose Success Is a Problem". The Atlantic.
- ^ Murphy, Simon; Brooks, Libby (22 September 2020). "UK government drops gender self-identification plan for trans people". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
- ^ Carreño, Belén; Allen, Nathan (29 June 2021). "Spain moves step closer to gender self-identification". Reuters. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
- ^ Boothman, John (22 August 2021). "Scottish government to legalise gender self-identification". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
- ^ Goodwin, Daisy (10 September 2021). "The Transgender Issue and Trans — the gender agenda". Financial Times. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
- ^ Madrigal-Borloz, Victor (2021), Reports on Gender: The Law of Inclusion & Practices of Exclusion (PDF), United Nations Independent Expert on Protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, pp. 6, 8, retrieved 21 October 2021,
Some submissions to this report argued against legal recognition of trans and gender diverse persons, alleging a risk of erasure of cisgender women's concerns, the integrity of gender-segregated spaces for women and the threat to the development of girls through sport.
"The concerns raised overwhelmingly appear to rely on anecdotal evidence, some of which would relate to allegations of abuse, but most of which build on deeply discriminatory stereotypes of trans and gender diverse persons based on ideas of predatory determinism. They also appear to reproduce privileged and/or colonial bias that disregards gender diversity around the world and to suggest a shift of onus from the State (the duty bearer) to communities and persons that, as evidence shows, are deeply disenfranchised (trans and gender diverse persons, the rights holders). ...
"The work to address, and ultimately eradicate, violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity is not in opposition to the human rights of women; to the contrary, these areas of concern largely overlap and conceptually, socioeconomically, politically and legally reinforce each other. - ^ "Trans Rights Index Europe & Central Asia 2023". Retrieved 16 November 2022.
- ^ a b "Trans Legal Mapping Report 2019: Recognition before the law" (PDF). ilga.org. 2020. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
GR report 2022 councilwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Argentina Recognizes Non-Binary Identities". hrw.org. 2023. Retrieved 21 April 2023.