Portugal Now Allows People to Self-Identify Their Gender

The assignment of gender at birth is an antiquated practice that some of today's parents are doing away with all together, attempting to raise their children without imposing a gender on them until they're old enough to decide for themselves. But what about transgender individuals uncomfortable with being grandfathered into an aging social system? Thanks to a new law in Portugal, these people can now self-identify their gender and actually have it mean something to the government.

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Having passed in Portugal's parliament 109-106, the new law removes the old medical diagnosis requirement transgender people had to deal with to have their gender legally recognized. Now, people over the age of 16 are allowed to choose and report their gender through a "self-determination" system.

Portugal joins Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, Malta, and Norway as the newest European country to adopt such a system, expressing their respect for trans people being able to know best about who they are and how they identify.