Transgender activists in the gallery react following the voting session on the transgender rights bill at the Congress of Deputies in Madrid on Dec. 22
Photographer: Manaure Quintero/BloombergSpain’s Win for Transgender Rights Almost Tore the Country Apart
New legislation gives more rights to trans people in Spain, but also pushes transphobia into the mainstream
Carla Antonelli waved a baby blue, white and pink trans flag as the Spanish congress passed a bill that makes the country one of the few in the world where anyone over the age of 16 can easily change their gender on their identification card. In a sign of how fraught the debate had been, half of the chamber clapped, while the other half stayed silent.
It had become personal for Antonelli, the only trans person to have ever held a parliamentary seat in Spain. In October, she resigned as a member of the Socialist Party in protest over the governing party’s opposition to key parts of the bill, which was sponsored by its own coalition partner, the far-left Unidas Podemos group. Though the Socialists eventually backed down, the months-long battle over the age at which people would be allowed to self-identify hurt the unity of the movement and the public image of trans people, Antonelli said.