Almost 150 minors have changed their name and gender on their ID card in the last five years, according to data from the Ministry of Justice, which shows an increase in requests over the years.
Since August 8, 2018, the gender identity law allows the right to self-determination of gender identity and expression and the change of name and sex in the civil registry from the age of 16, but with the obligation of a document issued by a doctor or medical psychologist to attest to the will of minors aged between 16 and 18.
Data from the Ministry of Justice indicate that 146 minors have changed their name and gender on their citizen card since 2018, with the majority (108) changing from female to male.
The data shows that the number of young people using this process is growing year on year, reaching 45 in 2022, of which 28 switched from female to male.
In 2018, this change was made by 11 young people, a number that rose to 16 in 2019 and remained in 2020. In 2021, 30 minors made this change.
This year, up to May 17, 28 young people have used this process, with the majority (20) switching from female to male.
Taking stock of the five years of the law, the president of the Association of Mothers and Fathers for Freedom of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity(Amplos), António Vale, said it was “extremely important”, because it made some young people who were no longer going to school able to return.
“It allowed this new integration of people. It has allowed people to be able to take some steps that they couldn’t before and to be able to be themselves and not be who was determined in a role that was made when they couldn’t say anything”, said António Vale.
The president of the association said that the law, in addition to young people being able to change sex and name on official documents from the age of 16, allowed for “a social transition, which can be from the age of two, three or four”.
“We have cases of very young children who make this social transition and in the schools where they are already treated by their social name and not by the name that appears on their identification document and this is very important”, he stressed.
António Vale recalled that at the beginning of the application of the law there were “quite a few cases” in which there was ignorance on the part of the Civil Registry registrars about how the process worked.
“We are talking about smaller environments. There were cases where the parents would talk to us and we would direct them to Lisbon, because in Lisbon the process was much more peaceful”, he said.
“Currently, with the information that is already circulating, it is already simpler and there is no such problem”, he added, recalling that there was also a lack of knowledge about this process in schools at the beginning.