Finland - February 2023

A new transgender law was approved in parliament by 113 voting in favour of amendments, 69 against and 17 absent. The gender recognition law makes it easier for transgender people aged 18 and older to change their legal gender by granting them the right to do so by a process of self-declaration, which removes the medical and psychiatric approval process. A provision requiring transgender people to provide a medical certificate that would prove they were infertile or sterilized before changing their gender identity was also abolished. The law, which was a priority for Prime Minister Sanna Marin’s government, was voted in overwhelmingly by Marin’s five-party coalition members, except for 13 Centre Party MPs, the Finns Party and the Christian Democrats. Rights activists have called the law a “major step towards protecting trans rights.”

Sources: Euronews, Euractiv, Associated Press, Amnesty International