Developments around bill to amend 'Trans' law in the Netherlands

The bill to amend the so-called 'Trans' act, which was submitted in May 2021, was discussed in the House standing committee for Justice and Security. Former Minister Dekker responded to this in his memorandum of 19 November 2021 and made two important further announcements. The evaluation of the Transgender Act 2014-2017 by Marjolein van den Brink remains an important point of reference. 

In 2017, UCERF researcher Marjolein van den Brink evaluated the Transgender Act (see the report ‘Recht doen aan genderidentiteit – Evaluatie drie jaar Transgenderwet in Nederland 2014-2017'). In May 2021, based on the conclusions from the evaluation, former Minister Dekker submitted a bill to amend the Transgender Act (see the draft regulation with explanation).

Four important amendments were proposed in this bill: the replacement of the expert statement for a two-step change procedure (a notification of the intention to change, followed by a confirmation of that intention), the introduction of the possibility to start this administrative procedure in the municipality where one lives, the introduction of the possibility of legal gender reassignment through the courts for children under the age of 16, and the declaration of the gender reassignment procedure's corresponding application to people with an intersex condition. 

Recently, new developments have taken place. The bill was much debated in the Lower House, with frequent references to the evaluation of Van den Brink and Snaathorst. Former Minister Dekker also repeatedly referred to the evaluation in his memorandum following the report of the Parliamentary Committee. He made two important further announcements. Firstly, he promised to work on a regulation for people who identify themselves as non-binary: 'I am currently charting the possibilities for and the consequences of arranging such an option'.

A second important announcement is his intention to make it possible for trans men who give birth to a child to be registered as a person other than the mother of their child: 'I do not consider it proportionate to make further amendments to the regulations on parentage law (Title 11, Book 1 of the Dutch Civil Code). The parent from whom the child is born is in almost all cases a woman. The law is in line with this. It is conceivable and understandable that many parents value the legal designation 'mother' and 'father', just as it is understandable that this will be different for some people. Unlike the legislator, I do consider it desirable and possible to regulate that the transgender man from whom the child was born is referred to in the child's birth certificate as "parent from whom the child was born". This does not require a change in parentage law, but an amendment to the Civil Status Decree 1994. I am happy to undertake this adjustment. The aim is to submit the decree for consultation at the beginning of 2022'.