In October 2018, Leonne Zeegers became the first Dutch woman to receive a neutral passport after a two-year legal battle. Subject: Retention of the draft law on the legal recognition of sex in its current form Intersex and non-binary people in the Netherlands can apply for the gender marker X, but must do so in court without any guarantees. Dekker pointed out that this process could also be simplified. In February 2020, a class action lawsuit was filed against the Dutch government over previous sterilization requirements for transgender people. The plaintiffs are also asking the state to offer compensation to those who have been sterilized under the law. In December 2020, the state issued an official apology,[42] and in the same month, a compensation scheme for transgender victims of sterilization (€5,000 for each of the estimated 2,000 victims) was introduced. [43] [44] In July 2020, it was announced that the Netherlands was considering abolishing gender marking on official identity documents from 2025. [45] [46] [47] A final remark on this subject in relation to sport, as it is usually a subject where misunderstandings dominate the narrative. Being able to play and participate in sports is important for trans children as it is for everyone else. You may hear that women`s empowerment poses a threat to safety in sports and other situations with commonly used locker rooms. Rest assured: safety and privacy in the washroom are important to all of us. That`s why there are already laws that make it illegal to harass in locker rooms.
These laws are used to prevent assaults, protect people and hold offenders accountable. Gender self-determination will not change that. Countries with self-determination models such as Norway, Malta, Belgium, Denmark and Luxembourg did not report an increase in incidents in toilets or changing rooms. The Dutch government will stop putting gender marks on national identity documents (IDs) for the next five years, a move that weighs the potential harms – such as harassment, discrimination and violence – that force people to indicate gender on documents against whether it is justified to publish a person`s legal sex. Transgender Network Netherlands, COC and NNID issued a joint statement saying: “This proposal does not bring relief to intersex people and violates the right to self-determination of transgender children. The bill to amend the so-called trans law, introduced in May 2021, was discussed at the House Standing Committee on Justice and Security. Former Minister Dekker responded in his memorandum of 19 November 2021 and made two other important announcements. Marjolein van den Brink`s evaluation of the Transgender Act 2014-2017 remains an important point of reference. In addition, a 75-minute ceremony was held Saturday afternoon in The Hague`s historic Knights` Hall, where Willemijn van Kempen, a trans woman who led the lawsuit against the government, was the first speaker. Following a lawsuit filed by more than a dozen people and organizations to demand an apology, the Dutch government offered one last year – announcing that those affected would receive €5,000 in compensation, mirroring a scheme announced in Sweden in 2018. A 2013 poll found that 93% of Dutch people thought homosexuals should live their lives the way they wanted, and only 4% thought homosexuality should be rejected.
Other opinion polls have also revealed a high level of public and social acceptance of LGBT people, leading many to call the Netherlands one of the most gay-friendly countries in the world. [74] According to a 2016 report by the Netherlands Institute for Social Research, most Dutch people have a positive attitude towards homosexuality. Only 7% of Dutch people viewed homosexuality and bisexuality negatively and 10% of transgender people negatively. However, 3.8% of gays and lesbians were victims of violence, compared with 2.4% of heterosexuals. And 32% of respondents said they would be offended if two men kissed, and 23% when they saw two women kissing (and 12% when they saw two people of the opposite sex kissing). [75] Finally, with respect to the best interests of the child, we can only add that it is crucial to enable trans youth to reach their full potential, while legally recognizing them with full respect for their gender identity.
