Transgender advocates want to simplify gender transition process

LGBTQ interest organizations TNN, COC and NNID support getting rid of the expert statement as a requirement for changing the official gender statement on Saturday at Amsterdam Pride. The Tweede Kamer will decide on the abolition of the expert statement in September.

The organizations stood with banners along the Canal Parade on Saturday. They also sent an open letter to the Tweede Kamer. They state that the rights of transgender and intersex people in the Netherlands are "still not" properly regulated.

"If you want the government to recognize your gender identity, you have to see a psychologist for an official statement. That is humiliating and patronizing. We call on the Tweede Kamer to put an end to this quickly," the statement reads. This statement is necessary for entry in official government documents such as birth certificate, passport and ID card.

In September, the Tweede Kamer will discuss a bill from the Minister of Legal Protection, Franc Weerwind. In the bill, it is proposed to drop the expert statement as a requirement for changing the gender statement. It is not yet clear whether there is enough support for this.

It is important that things become simpler, the organizations say, because people with the wrong letter on their paperwork have to deal with difficulties almost every day. "In the hospital, when you pick up a package and have to show your ID, at school or at the border: there is always that fear of humiliation and discrimination."

In Norway, Ireland, Malta and Argentina, for example, the expert statement has already been deleted as a requirement for gender change. In these countries, a person fills in a form and a few weeks later the gender statement is changed, according to TNN ( Transgender Network Netherlands), NNID (Dutch Organization for Sex Diversity) and COC.