On 18 December 2020, the Swiss Parliament passed a bill for legal gender recognition (LGR) procedures based on self-determination. In the future, a simple declaration at the civil registry office will be sufficient for trans and intersex people to change their legal name and gender marker. If the newly passed law is not challenged with a referendum in the upcoming months, the Swiss Federal Council will announce a date for the law to come into force.

Under the current law, LGR procedures in Switzerland are still based on court proceedings that vary from court to court or even from judge to judge. The new law will not only simplify and standardise the procedure but will also be less expensive, quicker and based on self-determination. According to Transgender Network Switzerland, costs will be reduced to an administrative fee of 75 CHF. Under the old law, LGR could cost up to 1.000 CHF.

With the new law, Switzerland will meet the criteria for “quick, transparent, and accessible procedures based on self-determination,” in line with regional and international human rights standards. Following Denmark, Norway, Malta, Luxembourg, Ireland, Iceland, and Portugal, Switzerland has now pledged to be the 8th country in Europe and Central Asia with a self-determination based model in place.

Unfortunately, the bill also includes a serious set-back for minors and those subject to a general deputyship and perpetuates discrimination on the basis of age. Under the previous law, no age limitations were mandated in the Swiss procedure. Read more via TGEU