A Spanish judge has granted an eight-year-old child the ability to change the gender on their birth certificate, claiming the child was sufficiently mature to make the decision.
A judge for the civil registry in the Spanish city of Ourense granted the child, born female and wanting to be recognized as male, the ability to change their gender on their birth certificate and other government documents.
The parents of the child had initially attempted to have the child’s name changed when the child was five years old and requested to have their gender changed last May but a judge in September of last year denied the request, claiming the child lacked sufficient maturity, newspaper El Mundo reports.
A pro-trans association, the Euforia Familias Trans-Aliadas, advised the family, who then appealed the decision, claiming the first judge had not interviewed the child. The new judge in the case held an interview and determined the child has “sufficient maturity” to change their gender.
The judge claimed that the child had been thinking of themselves for years as male and stated that “the lack of legitimacy of minors to rectify their sex in the civil registry means denying them their right to sexual identity.”
The ruling, which was made on June 10th but not published until Monday, comes as the Spanish government is pushing for a new transgender law that will allow anyone over the age of 16 to change their gender on government documents without needing medical requirements or hormones.
Anyone over 16 who wishes to change their gender will simply need to request it from the Civil Registry and then return in three months to ratify their decision. They will have six months to reverse the decision and after that period they will need to go through the courts to change their gender or name back.
Those between 14 and 16 will also be able to change their gender but only with the consent of their parent or guardian, while those ages 12 to 14 will only be able to change their gender with judicial authorization.
The transgender law was originally passed by the Spanish Council of Ministers last July but has been the subject of modification for months. It is now expected to go to the Spanish congress.
Transgenderism is a trend that appears to be surging. As reported by Breitbart News, trans-identifying youth in the United States have doubled in recent years.
While 0.5 per cent of adults, the study found, identify as trans, 1.4 per cent of teens do. This figure was 0.7 per cent just five years ago.