THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS – The Dutch government issued a public apology Saturday for a now discredited and repealed law requiring transgender people to undergo surgery and sterilization if they want to change. gender on your birth certificate.
Dutch Minister of Education, Culture and Science Ingrid van Engelshoven said in an emotional speech at a ceremony in the historic Knights Hall in the Dutch parliament complex.
The law was in place for nearly 30 years until it was repealed in 2014.
“For decades, people have had medical procedures they didn’t want to,” says Van Engelshoven. “But they knew they had no other choice.” “Others have waited because of this law; they were forced to delay becoming themselves for years.”
She said that “standards of what the body looks like are not within the law and the law should never force anyone to undergo surgery. And today, I sincerely apologize on behalf of the entire Cabinet. deeply about this.”
Transgender Network Nederland welcomed the ceremony, saying the Netherlands was the first country in the world to issue such an apology, but said it took too long for the government to rescind the law and the compensation. 5,000 euros (US$5,650) are given out to those affected. by law is too low.
It said hundreds of people “face an impossible choice. They can indeed choose the document that matches their gender identity, but at a hefty price tag.”
Willemijn van Kempen, who campaigned for an apology, said in a statement that the government was “structurally disadvantaged and to the detriment of transgender and transgender people for nearly thirty years. It is important now that Now they have to apologize.”
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