Text on self-determination of gender identity in schools, approved by specialty

This Thursday, Parliament specifically approved a text setting out the measures that schools must take to guarantee the right of children and young people to self-determinate gender identity and the protection of their sexual characteristics.

The replacement text, concerning the bills presented by the PS, BU and PAN, was approved by the Committee on Constitutional Affairs, Rights, Freedoms and Guarantees, with the SDP and Chega voting against.

According to the text, schools must establish “channels of communication and identification” by identifying the responsible person or people “who may include the situation of children and young people exhibiting a gender identity or expression that does not correspond to their assigned sex. be conveyed “birth”.

Upon becoming aware of the situation, the school must, together with parents, guardians or legal representatives, conduct an assessment of the situation “with a view to gathering all necessary information to provide support and supervision, and to identify organizational needs and possible forms of action to ensure the well-being and healthy development of the child.” or a young man.”

Schools will also have to ensure “that the child or young person, in exercising their rights and taking into account their expressed wishes, has access to bathrooms and changing rooms, ensuring the well-being of everyone by making any accommodations they consider necessary.” .

In a panel discussion on this very issue, Social Democratic MP Lina Lopes, “a teacher with more than thirty years of experience,” expressed her disagreement, saying that it was “unwise” for Parliament to legislate on this matter at the moment. matters “when schools have so much going on, including restoring teachers’ working hours.”

The Social Democrat said she did not know “whether there is a budget for replacing schools.”

PS MP Isabel Moreira explained that the problem is not the construction of new bathrooms, but that when a child or young person wants to “do something intimate” such as “change clothes or play sports”, their “autonomy and privacy” respected, noting that “the school, in its autonomy, creates the conditions for this.”

The text approved this Thursday also establishes that schools must issue guidelines to “ensure the right of a child or young person to use a self-assigned name in all school and extra-curricular activities that occur within the school community”, without compromising the provision of “adequate identification person through an identity document” in situations such as registration, examinations or other similar situations.

Schools should also “promote an environment that allows self-identified gender to be taken into account when providing gender-differentiated activities, ensuring that children and young people can choose those with whom they feel most identified” and, with regard to clothing, then children should be able to choose according to the option they identify with “in cases where there is an obligation to wear a uniform or any other gender-differentiated clothing.”

We are talking about legislation on self-determination of gender identity in schools after the Constitutional Court decided in 2021 to regulate this topic by the government, considering that this issue is within the exclusive competence of the Assembly of the Republic.

These projects fell by the wayside following the dissolution of Parliament ahead of the January 2022 legislative elections and were reintroduced by the PS, BE and PAN.