A broad political majority, consisting of the Social Democrats, Red Green Alliance, Social Liberal and Liberal parties all support the law change, Kristeligt Dagblad reports.
A potential law change in the area was first mooted in 2018 under the previous government, which said it could help improve equality for transgender people.
Since 2014, Denmark has allowed people over the age of 18 to change their gender in a legal sense, meaning, for example, that they are described as the gender they identify as on the country’s Central Personal Registration (CPR).
The CPR personal number provides access to the public health system and is also used as an ID by services like banks, mobile phone companies and gyms.
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Since the numbers are constructed to denote the gender of the holder (even numbers are given to women, odd numbers to men), transgender people often experience confusion or difficulty when using their CPR as an ID, unless they legally change their gender and receive a new number.
The four parliamentary parties want that issue to be corrected, including for under-18s.
“We know that it means a lot to children who do not identify as the gender denoted by their CPR number. It puts them in a lot of uncomfortable situations,” Red Green Alliance equality spokesperson Mai Villadsen told Kristeligt Dagblad.
A panel was commissioned by the last government to analyse the issue as part of an LGBTI equality plan announced in 2018.
The panel is yet to conclude its work, but the centre-right Liberal party, which helped commission it, is supportive of the idea.
Former minister for equality Eva Kjer Hansen, who was coordinating minister for LGBTI issues under the last government, said her party remains willing to lower the age of legal gender change. The Social Democrats are also in support, while the Social Liberals are open to a minimum age of 15.
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