THE HAGUE - A majority of Members of Parliament indicated they do no want to move forward with a Cabinet proposal that would allow people to more easily change their gender in the country's official birth records. The motion from NSC and SGP calls on the caretaker Cabinet to withdraw the proposed relaxations to the Transgender Law within four weeks, and passed by a slim margin with 73 voting in favor, and 70 opposed.
Tuesday's roll-call vote not only divided the current caretaker Cabinet, but it also divided the four parties trying to form a new coalition government. Parties joining NSC and SGP included the PVV, BBB, ChristenUnie, Denk, FvD and Ja21. Parties opposed include GroenLinks-PvdA, VVD, D66, CDA, SP, PvdD, and Volt. Seven MPs did not vote, including FvD leader Thierry Baudet, D66 MP Rob Jetten and a party colleague, and two each from PVV and CDA.
The current law requires people to get an expert to provide a statement of support when changing their gender in the registry, which is then used on official documents, like birth certificates, passports and other forms of identification. The bill from former Legal Protection Minister Sander Dekker aims to drop that requirement.
"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," said a group of LGBTQI rights organizations nearly two years ago. The bill would also make it possible for someone under 16 years of age to make the change. Although the law was debated in the Tweede Kamer in 2022, there remained signs that support was waning. The bill was then put on hold after the Cabinet collapsed last summer.
The issue resurfaced earlier this month when one of the motion's initiators, NSC MP Nicolien van Vroonhoven, gave an interview in AD using language often classified as transphobic and biased against others in the LGBTQI community. “We are absolutely not against changing sex,” Vroonhoven said. “But it should not be too easy either. There are real risks to women’s safety. In England, for example, men are suddenly given access to women’s prisons, and that is not something we should want.”
The notion of men changing their gender as a means to access areas meant for women has been dismissed as a form of fear-mongering in the Netherlands and abroad. Still, Van Vroonhoven had the support of her party and Diederik van Dijk, a MP from conservative Christian party SGP.
The duo submitted their motion two weeks ago to the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of Parliament. The initiative also drew scorn from a number of politicians who viewed it as a measure to try and stifle a more thorough and thoughtful debate on the issue by putting it on the table for a quick vote without a hearing. As such, the motion divided several aligned political parties on ideological grounds, and also for more political reasons.
Addressing this issue with a simple motion not only lacks collegiality, but is also "careless and undesirable," said D66 MP Wieke Paulusma. She said it was "certainly not a sign of good governance."
The current minister for legal protection, Franc Weerwind, spoke out against the motion. As Dekker's successor, Weerwind said he thought the motion was a poor way to handle a complex issue. The Cabinet can still decide to try to push forward with the measure which would bring the bill to another vote.