[News] [Sweden] Activists petition Swedish PM to end trans sterilization
Stephanie Stevens
Activists petition Swedish PM to end trans sterilization
50,000 Europeans call for end to forced sterilization of transgender
people in Sweden
15 February 2012 | By Matthew Jenkin
Activists hand delivered a petition of 50,000 signatures to the
Swedish Prime Minister's office yesterday, calling on the country to
end forced sterilization of transgender people.
Under the current law, which has been in effect in the Scandanavian
country since 1972, a trans person must be sterilized or else their
gender change is not recognized legally.
Ulrika Westerlund, president of the Swedish Federation for Lesbian,
Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights (RSFL), says despite a major push
to repeal the law, including support from 90% of Swedish MPs, Prime
Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt has stayed silent on the issue.
RFSL and rights group AllOut.org gathered 47,689 signatures from
European citizens urging Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt to speak out
and break the deadlock, which has allowed one small conservative party
Kristdemokraterna to use its seat in government to block the change.
'The Swedish Prime Minister has publicly called sterilization law a
"dark chapter in Swedish history,”' says Andre Banks, co-founder of
AllOut.org.
'Now he has a chance to close that chapter for good, reaffirm Sweden's
international reputation on human rights and set a precedent in Europe
where other countries have similar barbaric laws.'
Last month, MEPs called for the Swedish government to repeal the law
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