Britain’s Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that the legal definition of a “woman” is based on a person’s sex at birth, the latest setback for transgender activists. Before the ruling, several other countries had toughened legislation affecting transgender people.
On a global scale
According to the International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA), more than 60 UN members allow trans people to change their gender on official identity documents.
Around 20 countries allow a modification of civil status by a simple declaration, according to the organization.
In other countries, these changes require lengthy procedures and the following of hormonal treatment, sex change surgery or sterilization.
Treatment for minors
Several countries which authorized hormone treatment for minors who do not accept their birth gender have stepped back as a precaution.
Swedish authorities decided in 2022 to end hormone therapy for minors, except in rare cases, pointing to the necessity for caution. A similar decision was taken in Finland in 2020.
In Britain, prescriptions for puberty blockers were banned in 2024 for minors, after the publication of the Cass Review calling for caution due to lack of reliable data.
In Canada, Alberta banned sex change surgery in 2024, as well as puberty blockers and hormone therapy for young people under 15 except in exceptional circumstances.
Half of U.S. states prohibit hormone treatment for minors. The Supreme Court is to rule by June 2025 on the access of minors to treatments to change gender.
Trump’s anti-transgender crusade
Shortly after his Jan. 20, 2025, inauguration, U.S. President Donald Trump announced he would turn back what he called “transgender ideology.”
On Jan. 28, he signed an executive order aimed at barring transgender personnel from military service.
In February, the Defence Department said the United States will remove transgender troops from the military unless they obtain an individual waiver. In March, a federal court suspended the ban.
Trump has also signed orders seeking to ban transgender athletes from women’s sports events and restricting gender transition procedures for under 19s.
Both are being challenged in court.
In his inauguration speech, he had said the United States would only recognize two sexes, male and female, as defined at birth.
Total ban in Russia
Russia in July 2023 adopted a law which totally banned medical sex change operations and registrations of a change without medical intervention.
Russian authorities have also intensified the promotion of a policy of preservation of so-called traditional values. In 2024, they banned the adoption of Russian children by countries which allow gender transition.
They have banned the promotion of life without children and put “the international LGBT movement” on its list of “terrorist and extremist” organizations.
Hungary: ‘either a man or a woman’
The Hungarian parliament on April 14 adopted a constitutional amendment stipulating that a person is “either a man or a woman.”
Gender change banned in Georgia
A law adopted in Georgia in October 2024 bans gender re-assignment, as well as adoptions by gay and transgender people.
Sex changes outlawed in Iraq
A law which came into force in Iraq in June 2024, makes “biological sex change based on personal desire and inclination” a crime. It punishes transgender people who undergo gender operations and doctors who perform them with up to three years in prison.
Pakistan cancels rights
Pakistan’s Federal Shariat Court, which decides if laws conform to Islam, in May 2023 annulled several measures in a 2018 law which affects the transgender community.
