Experts urge Norway to drop medical requirements for legal gender change

By Maria Caspani NEW YORK (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Transgender people in Norway should be allowed to change their legal gender without having to undergo mandatory genital removal surgery and sterilization, a group of experts said on Friday. In a report to the Norwegian government, an expert committee appointed by the health ministry proposed new gender recognition legislation based on self determination and recommended 18 as the minimum age for a person to request a change of legal gender. "The Norwegian government now has the opportunity to stamp out an appalling practice that has for more than three decades violated transgender people's basic rights," Patricia M. Kaatee, a policy adviser at rights organization Amnesty International Norway, said in a statement. Norway is often ranked as one of the world's most progressive nations when it comes to human rights.



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