Nuts and Bolts

solaceinstars:

“Hi, my name is Love, I’m from Sweden and I’m trans. That means I’m born in a female body but my heart says I’m a man. I’m speaking out today because the Swedish government is forcing thousands of people like me to make an impossible choice.

If I need to change the gender on my identity card to reflect my true self, just a small change from an “F” to an “M”, my country will force me to be sterilized. I can either be represented correctly or have my basic human rights violated. That is not a fair choice. I’m at a protest today in front of the Parliament to ask for the law to be changed and this barbaric practice to end.

Your support is making a difference, please join us by signing the petition and telling your friends to do the same. Thank you!”

Unfortunately, the Swedish government has recently decided not to change this law, despite the fact that forced sterilisation breaches Article 3 of EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. The 1972 law being kept in force states that a person wanting their gender reconsidered by the state has to be over 18 years old, unmarried and sterilized. Under the law, transgender persons are also banned from storing sperm or eggs in a sperm/egg bank for future use. What’s worse? Annika Eclund, LGBT spokesperson from Kristdemokraterna, the party responsible for the deadlock, has previously told Swedish radio she “doesn’t entirely understand why it would go against human rights”. “If I as a female feel I am really a man and want to change gender, then it is pretty natural that as a father I would not be able to give birth,” she said. How this person became an LGBT spokesperson, when she clearly doesn’t understand how insulting, and demeaning, her statement was, is over my head  (source 1, 2, 3).

Please, click the link and sign the petition.
I am also providing the contact information for the Prime Minister’s office.

Thank you.

http://allout.org/en/actions/stop_forced_sterilization

Fredrik Reinfeldt, Prime Minister
Office +46 8 405 10 00
You can contact Fredrik Reinfeldt and several other representatives of the Swedish Parliament via web message here: http://www.sweden.gov.se/sb/d/2070