Transgender male Lauri Punamäki wants the current requirement for proof of sterilisation or infertility to be struck from Finland’s transgender legislation. Punamäki also wants individuals to have greater self-determination in choosing their gender.

Last week, legislators in Sweden decided to strike out the sterilization requirement from transgender laws. Punamäki, who was female until his early twenties, says authorities in Finland have not yet moved in the same direction because there has been no public discussion of the issue and that influential interest groups have not taken up the cause.

“The conversation that the status of transgender people constitutes a human rights issue has only arisen in recent weeks. This has not been discussed for very long,” he added.

Law prevents keeping reproductive organs

Punamäki wants the sterilisation and infertility clauses to be eliminated, but he said this is not the only flaw in the legislation.

“I hope that other changes would be made in the law apart from removing the sterilisation obligation. It has not been a problem for many because it’s perceived that ongoing hormone treatments help meet the requirement,” he explained.

However he pointed out that the requirement is a problem for those transgender individuals who want to keep their original reproductive organs.

The human rights advocates SETA (LGBTI Rights in Finland) and Trasek, an association for transgender people and their families, reported that people seeking gender reassignment surgery have not been able to keep their reproductive organs because of the current legislation.

“The entire premise of the law should be changed. It should consider how to legally regulate gender changes and who has the power to do it,” Punamäki charged.

Emphasis on evaluation and diagnosis

The law currently emphasises diagnosis of the transsexual status – in which a person identifies with a gender that is inconsistent with their assigned sex. The aim of the evaluation is to determine whether or not a person is in fact transgender.

This diagnosis is crucial, since it can affect the individual’s life in many ways. Without the diagnosis, it would not be possible to receive gender reassignment surgery or to have one’s gender switched in the population record at local registry offices.

Without the diagnosis, it may not even be possible to change one’s name from Antti to Anu, for instance.

Currently the evaluation is performed in two locations, at the Helsinki and Tampere university hospitals.

“Treatment is also extremely tightly controlled. No other kind of treatment specifies that it must be done at one of only two places,” Punamäki declared.

He said this evaluation and diagnosis should also be extended to minors, and should be possible within the scope of the law, but the legislation is interpreted to mean that there is no obligation to treat under-aged persons.