Spain’s central government, led by socialist Pedro Sánchez, is pressuring the regional government of Madrid to back down on its reform of the law regulating legal sex changes.
El Debate reports that Sánchez’ government wants regional president Isabel Díaz Ayuso to give up her attempt to ameliorate the national “trans law” that passed a year ago, allowing the most radical form of self-identification regarding sex. Sánchez has opened a procedure that forces the regional government to come to the negotiating table with the central government over the law before it challenges the regional revisions to the law in constitutional court.
The government claims the “concrete aspects” of the regional reform “mainly violate the rights of LGTBI people and especially of trans people.”
The government has taken issue with Ayuso’s reform as “again pathologizing trans people in the Community of Madrid and subjecting them to exams from which they are already exempt under national law.”
“From the socialist group, we hope Ayuso rectifies, so that the government does not have to file this unconstitutionality appeal,” the socialist group in the regional parliament stated.
The regional parliament passed a reform of the law last December. It requires minors to have “previously received support from child and adolescent mental health professionals” before starting cross-sex hormone treatments. They must also be followed by mental health services throughout the treatment. Additionally, any other mental health problems must be under treatment in tandem with hormone therapy.
Sánchez’ government has also taken exception to a regional change to a 2016 anti-discrimination law. That law put the burden of proof on the accused to show that he had not discriminated against a protected class when facing accusations of discriminatory conduct.
Ayuso’s reform suppresses this article, reestablishing the ‘innocent until proven guilty’ standard long considered a basic element of justice in Western society.
It is unlikely that Ayuso will back down. Though only a regional governor, she has been a thorn in the side of Sánchez since the 2020 pandemic when she stood staunchly against the most draconian measures to combat the spread of the virus. In their constant rivalry, she has continually emerged as the victor. If Sánchez does decide to appeal to the courts in support of his radical “Trans Law,” he may risk bringing his own controversial law under further critique.
Sánchez’s approach to the issue, particularly regarding minors, flies in the face of trends throughout Europe where many countries are seeking to protect minors from aggressive treatments for gender dysphoria in the light of mounting evidence of harm suffered by young people.