Iceland review - 2019, Qupperneq 116

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Iceland Review
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that individuals can officially register as neither
male nor female, denoted by an x on official docu-
ments. “This constitutes a recognition that not all
individuals conform to either male or female,” says
Aagot. “This is an innovation, and a huge improve-
ment for the rights of those individuals who do not
experience themselves as either or.”
Caring for children
While the bill’s passing was a milestone, both Aagot
and Ugla say some important aspects of the original
draft were altered or scrapped along its journey
through the parliament. While the original draft of
the bill banned medically unnecessary interventions
on intersex children, that section was eventually
removed.
“We opposed that removal,” Ugla says, “and so
did most humanitarian organisations, but the medi-
cal profession just has so much weight they managed
to put this issue on ice. That was a big disappoint-
ment for us. A cornerstone of this bill was bodily
integrity; by removing that article they removed the
foundation of the act.”
An estimated two percent of the world’s pop-
ulation are born with an intersex trait, making it
about as common as having red hair. Many doctors,
including Icelandic paediatrician Ragnar Bjarnason,
argue that in some cases, atypical physical gender
characteristics must be dealt with early to avoid
life-threatening illnesses or recurrent infections.
“The issue is that there are very few cases that are
life threatening, and everyone agrees that in those
instances, it’s necessary to act,” Ugla explains. “But
in the vast majority of cases, the differences are not
dangerous and actions are taken that don’t need to
be taken. That might lead to individuals becoming
dependent on the healthcare system for further
surgeries or hormone treatment. We want all such
interventions to be stopped, as they’re often based
on social pressure and social attitudes of how peo-
ple’s bodies ‘should’ look.”
In the end, says Aagot, “The Gender Autonomy
Act only addressed the legal status of intersex peo-
ple to a very small degree. It’s especially important
to discuss the issues and status of children born
with atypical gender characteristics. In particular to
set regulations on procedures that involve changing
their gender characteristics. It’s a complex issue and
very delicate.”
This delicate issue is a good example of a topic
that needs more discussion in the public sphere as
well as the legislative one. “In the final preparation
of the bill, the Prime Minister’s office concluded
that the proposals the group had submitted on
this would need to be considered more carefully.
Therefore it was provisionally stipulated in the Act
that the Prime Minister should appoint a task force
to discuss the issue.” Once it is formed, the task
force has one year to submit a report. “We are lobby-
ing to get this committee to be set up properly,” Ugla
tells me. “Representatives of Intersex Ísland have to
have a seat at the table.”
Other changes were made to the original draft
of the bill, “like raising the minimum age for youth
to change their name and gender in the National
Registry. That was raised from 15 years to 18. Before
the age of 18, they need the consent of their parents
or guardians, but not all youth have that support.
It was actually the Ombudsman for Children that
suggested the age of 15, it wasn’t something that we
just pulled out of thin air. There are precedents for
it in Norway and Sweden. We wanted to give young
people the opportunity to take this into their own
hands.”

Having a say in healthcare
Ugla says the team that drafted the bill also pro-
posed the National Hospital’s trans healthcare team
would include a gender studies specialist. Medical
professionals opposed the inclusion of a member
from outside the medical field, and eventually got
their way. “The medical profession has a lot of weight
and power, but it doesn’t necessarily always have all
the knowledge. There’s no one on the current team
The medical profession has a lot of weight and power,
but it doesn’t necessarily always have all the knowledge.