In October, the Greek parliament passed a bill enabling citizens to determine their gender identity without having to undergo any physical or psychological examination from the age of 15. The law, while not perfect (for instance, it bars access for legal gender recognition to transgender refugees and migrants), is a major step forward for Greece’s trans community. It will allow people to change their gender on official documents with a court ruling, and without requiring medical tests or sterilization, as was the case until now.

The new law was met with protests from a whole spectrum of organisations, including Golden Dawn, the Greek Orthodox Church and the Communist Party of Greece. The Holy Synod of the Orthodox church denounced the measure as a “monstrous” attack on family life and traditional values; while New Democracy, the country’s main centre-right opposition, voted against the bill based on its concern that the age at which a person is allowed to change their legal gender was too low.

A number of demonstrations against the new law were organised by Golden Dawn and other far right groups. Those were met with opposition from the Greek anarchist movement. The Greek anarchos, while pointing out their opposition to SYRIZA in general, largely welcomed the recent liberalisation, and decided to stand against those who opposed it. One of the callouts on Athens Indymedia stated: ‘without proposing any governmental support, we believe that legal affiliation is a matter of survival for LGBTQ+ and especially trans and non-binary people. We believe that we must not leave the fascist calls unhindered. Their transcendental rhetoric and of course their fascist action must be crushed.’

Pic: Athens Indymedia

ZB