(Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)
The Dutch government formally apologized Nov. 27 to transgender and intersex people who were forced to become sterile in order to legally change their gender.
The Gender Change Act, which was also known as the Transgender Act, was in effect in the Netherlands from 1985 until its repeal in 2014.
Education, Culture and Science Minister Ingrid van Engelshoven and Law Minister Sander Dekker last year on behalf of the Dutch government apologized to trans and intersex people who had undergone forcible sterilizations. The Dutch government also agreed to pay 5,000 euros ($5,633.68) to around 2,000 trans people who had sterilization surgeries.
A ceremony did not take place because of the pandemic.
Van Engelshoven issued the formal apology during a meeting with trans and intersex people that took place at the Ridderzaal, a 12th century building in The Hague that the Dutch government uses for speeches from the country’s royal family and other important ceremonial events.
“For decades we have had a law that has harmed transgender and intersex people,” said van Engelshoven. “People have undergone medical treatment that they did not want, or have been forced to postpone becoming themselves. Today, on behalf of the entire Cabinet, I make our deepest apologies. Recognition of and apologies for what has been done to these people and which has caused a lot of grief for those involved is extremely important and is central to this special day in the Ridderzaal.”
Vanmiddag heeft @ivanengelshoven namens het kabinet excuses aangeboden voor de oude Transgenderwet. Mensen konden hun geslachtsaanduiding in de geboorteakte veranderen, onder voorwaarde van geslachtsveranderende operaties en blijvende onvruchtbaarheid ⬇️https://t.co/iQwLTmWeP5 pic.twitter.com/13QmUUczPb
— Ministerie van Onderwijs, Cultuur en Wetenschap (@MinOCW) November 27, 2021
Transgender Netwerk Nederland in a press release said the Netherlands is the first country in the world to issue such an apology. The advocacy group notes the Dutch government last month began to compensate trans and intersex people who were forcibly sterilized, but adds the amount of money they will receive remains too low.
“The government has structurally disadvantaged and damaged transgender and intersex people for almost 30 years,” said Willemijn van Kempen, who spearheaded the campaign for the formal apology. “It is important that it now apologizes for that.”
