Today it will be officially known if the Socialist group in Congress requests or not a new extension in the term of presentation of amendments on the trans law. Despite requests from the Ministry of Equality that the start of the debate in committee not be delayed any longer and in full internal storm within the PSOE between detractors and this legislation, the Socialist group continues to work on the amendments where it is studied to include modifications in the articles that refer to minors.
The socialist leadership already reported last Thursday that they were not going to touch any aspect of the law referring to gender self-determination, a core aspect of the law. In other words, the right to self-determination of registered sex without any type of guardianship or medical report will be supported. This is one of the great reasons for the rejection of the law by socialist feminists –the so-called classic feminism–, which considers it an attack on the fight for equality between men and women.
The second great battle horse and internal debate in the socialist ranks refers to minors, and in this sense it is being considered to request some modification to the articles approved by the Council of Ministers. The Minister of Justice, Pilar Llop, pointed out last week the need for a law that affects children to have "very specific legal certainty."
At this time, the text prepared by the Ministry of Equality establishes that minors between 14 and 16 years of age who want to change their registered sex must be assisted by their legal guardians. Between 12 and 14, it will be done through a voluntary jurisdiction process, and from 16 on, no requirements are established.
If the amendments are not ready today, the Socialists will ask for one more week. What is clear is that changes will be requested in the comparison of some domestic violence with gender violence.
Apart from the pressure from Equality for the text to start the process in committee so that it can be approved this year, within the PSOE there is a deep confrontation around the law. A few hours after the spokeswoman for the executive and Minister of Education, Pilar Alegría, indicated that "the opponents are not at home, but opposite, with the extreme right", the Socialist Feminists platform – chaired by Professor Amelia Valcárcel – made A letter arrived to President Pedro Sánchez asking for an urgent meeting, "tremendously concerned about how the processing of the law is progressing." The letter indicates that under formulas "disguised as socially innovative, there is the patriarchy that refuses to die."
The internal tension has therefore increased with the arrival of the bill to Congress and its urgent processing, in response to the request of the Minister of Equality, Irene Montero. Socialist Feminists deplores in its letter to Sánchez the “non-existent political debate”.
The Socialist group has twice extended the deadline for submitting amendments. This scenario is what motivated Carla Antonelli, a transsexual activist and former socialist deputy, to announce last week that she was leaving the military in the PSOE. Within the socialist ranks, Víctor Gutiérrez, secretary of LGTBI policies, is the one who is leading the charge against the leaders who oppose the trans law with crossed accusations that have reached the Ethics and Guarantees committee of the formation.
