Gender self-determination to be granted in Spain, Scotland

By RAQUEL REDONDO and ELISE MORTON
Associated Press

MADRID (AP) — Lawmakers in Spain and Scotland have passed gender self-determination bills allowing citizens over 16 to change their registered gender without medical supervision. Spain’s lower house of Parliament approved a law on Thursday that requires children ages 12 and 13 to have a judge’s authorization to make the change and those between 14 and 16 have to be accompanied by their parents. The bill adopted by the Scottish Parliament makes Scotland the first part of the U.K. to endorse allowing people to transition by self-declaration. The new rules require applicants to have lived full-time in their declared identity for three months, or six months if they are ages 16-17.