Finland, long regarded as one of the most gay-friendly nations in the world, has never shied from letting its pride flag fly. The country has made several strides in LGBTI rights over the years.
Homosexuality was first decriminalised in 1971, at a time when it was still officially against the law in countries like Spain and Germany. Discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation was prohibited in 1995 and same sex marriage has been legal since 2017.
Yet, for a country where one encounters something as distinctively liberating as the homoerotic art of Tom of Finland plastered on a t-shirt, Finland has made very little progress when it comes to trans rights.
Its controversial Trans Act, which has been heavily criticised by numerous local and international human rights groups, including Amnesty International and the UN, remains a shockingly anachronistic and outdated obstacle for an otherwise progressive country.
Hormone therapy and gender reassignment surgery for transgender people (defined as those who identify with a gender that is different to the one they were assigned at birth) are covered by Finland’s public healthcare system.
However, gaining access to the same requires going through the official channels, and legal gender recognition in Finland currently entails an exhaustingly lengthy and tedious process.
The individual must undergo an extended evaluation period (comparable to the probation period in divorce proceedings) during which they have to receive an official psychiatric diagnosis of “transsexualism,” present evidence that they permanently live in the role of the “opposite gender,” and obtain a medical statement that affirms that they are sterilised or otherwise infertile.
“It’s a violation of human rights.” says Tanja von Knorring, chairperson of Transfeminiinit ry, an organisation that supports the rights of transfeminine individuals (transgender people who identify with femininity) in Finland. “The sterilisation requirement is obsolete and cannot be defended. The act also requires a psychiatric process that violates the individual’s right to define what gender they are.”
Finland’s demand for mandatory sterilisation, which is still a requirement in only four other EU countries, has drawn universal condemnation. It is considered an infringement on bodily integrity, broadly defined as the fundamental right to have autonomy over one’s own body. Additionally, those who do not receive an official “transsexualism” diagnosis are prevented from acquiring legal gender recognition.
The outdated legislation and excessive bureaucracy has even reportedly driven some members of the trans community who hold dual citizenship to revoke their Finnish nationality.
A growing number of countries across the world have elected to allow citizens to change their gender based on self-determination. According to the principles of self-determination, trans people should be able to define their own identity and gender.
Von Knorring, who is also a human rights activist, believes that Finland need not look any farther than its neighbour Norway for guidance on progressive legislation. Norway allows citizens to begin the official gender transition process once they reach the age of 16, whereas one only becomes eligible to change their gender in Finland when they turn 18.
Von Knorring feels this undermines the intelligence of young people and invalidates their ability to make decisions. “If the Norwegian youth are trusted by the government and officials, why don’t the Finnish government and politicians trust the youth here?” she asks.
Helena, a trans activist with Trasek ry, a Finnish association that advocates for transgender and intersex rights, speaks about her own experience with the current legislation. “I socially transitioned over two years ago and still can’t legally change my gender marker,” she reveals.
“This is due to the fact that I needed to get medically diagnosed first, and the process to get a diagnosis can take upto 2 years. For me it took a year and a half.”
According to Amnesty International, Finland’s Trans Act does not meet standards which decree that legal gender recognition procedures should be “efficient, fair and nondiscriminatory, and respect the dignity and privacy of the person concerned.”
Another key challenge faced by the trans community in Finland is the fact that gender is embedded in the country’s personal identity code system. The code, which is assigned to Finnish citizens at birth and is essential for acquiring official documents and services, indicates birth sex within its last four digits (the second-last digit is an even number for women and an odd number for men). It therefore does not allow for a gender neutral marker.
The process of acquiring legal gender recognition can take upto 3 years, during which the individual must continue using a personal identity code that does not correspond with their true gender—an experience that can be very distressing for a trans person.
Helena explains that since changing one’s legal gender entails changing their personal identity code, trans people have to live without valid identification documents during the interim period, which leads to several challenges.
“You might suddenly have problems with bank accounts, healthcare and updating old records or diplomas. To get everything in working order, you need to carry a bunch of old IDs and official papers about your transition to prove you are who you say you are.”
Additionally, some institutions are ill equipped to handle the unique situation. “I had to pressure my former school with potential legal action if they wouldn’t reprint my diplomas with my new name because it wasn’t customary for them to do that,” discloses Helena.
Von Knorring points out that trans individuals in Finland only have recourse to receive treatment via public healthcare (restricted to the university hospitals in Tampere and Helsinki), as current practices do not permit private practitioners to provide hormone therapy to trans people, although they can do so for cisgender people (people whose gender corresponds to what they were assigned at birth).
“There are a huge number of us who don’t want to go through the official process,” states von Knorring, who knows of instances where private doctors have had part of their licenses revoked after they provided hormone therapy to trans patients. She believes private avenues for treatment should be made available to those who can afford it.
Numerous attempts have been made to alter the conditions of Finland’s Trans Act. In a move that dismayed activists, in August 2017, the Finnish government under Juha Sipilä opted not to implement the recommendations made by the Human Rights Council to reform the act.
However, a new equality programme put forth by the current administration promises to bring much-needed change. In accordance with the programme, the government has assembled a working group or committee (made up of representatives from various organisations) that is currently tackling the task of revising and upgrading Finland’s trans legislation.
The committee’s objectives include amending the act to respect the right to self-determination. “Hopefully we’ll soon see a new law that separates the legal gender marker from medical transitioning,” Helena muses.
Interestingly, a citizen’s initiative calling for the Trans Act to be reformed has also made significant progress. Titled “The Right to Be Initiative,” it has received the 50,000 signatures required to proceed to the parliament. “It’s a unique situation,” says von Knorring, as it is currently unclear which of the parallel projects will ultimately succeed.
While there is a possibility that both proposals will be rejected by the parliament (the recommended amendments in 2017 were dismissed as they did not receive enough support from MPS), von Knorring does not believe it is likely to happen under Sanna Marin’s government. Marin has previously stated that she supports trans people’s right to self-identify.
These developments are promising, and some might argue that while the situation in Finland is certainly not perfect, it still fares better than countries such as Hungary when it comes to trans rights.
“Finnish society is actually pretty accepting of trans people as long as the trans person fits into the gender binary,” states Helena. However, critics argue that the country has a long way to go before it can achieve its stated goals of inclusion and equality.
Trans activist Sakris Kupila asserts that authorities need to do more to protect the community from discrimination. “Hate crimes and hate speech need to be better recognised in our criminal justice system. We need more robust plans and genuine action to be taken, not endless reports and statements,” he says.
Von Knorring concurs, and refers to a gaping flaw in current legislation, which precludes gender orientation when dealing with hate crimes. Discrimination against members of the trans community allegedly falls under “other similar reasons” at the moment.
“It should be more clearly expressed. We need to define gender orientation-related crimes,” she explains. Trans people reportedly face frequent harassment during their transition, even at the hands of transport authorities, when their identity does not correspond with their appearance.
Underreporting hate crimes is also a common trend in Finland. “There is a reluctance from the youth and from LGBTI people, especially trans people, to file a report with the police,” says von Knorring.
According to an EU survey carried out in 2019, while 140 Finnish LGBTI people said they experienced physical or sexual violence that year, only 23 per cent reported the latest incident to authorities.
The harassment faced by trans youth is also a cause for concern. A study that interviewed trans youth in Finland some years ago found that 40–58 per cent had faced physical violence, while over 80 per cent had encountered harassment and psychological violence.
“Trans youth are more unwell compared to their peers, and they seem to receive too little access to psychosocial support and healthcare services compared to their need,” says Kupila, who is the chairperson at SETA ry, Finland’s largest LGBTI rights organisation.
The current political climate in Finland could also create new challenges for the trans community, with the recent municipal elections indicating a shift towards more conservative attitudes culminating in the decisive victory of the National Coalition Party.
“The rising populism and anti-transgender movements in right wing and Christian parties is something that cannot be neglected,” declares von Knorring, who points to how politics has recently impeded the progress of trans rights movements in countries such as Spain.
“In recent years, the amount of hate speech, online hate and anti-genderism has risen alarmingly,” notes Kupila. Additionally, unlike in several other European countries, trans rights groups and organisations in Finland reportedly often struggle to stay afloat as they do not receive adequate funding and rely heavily on volunteers.
While there is still much to be done, many members of the trans community choose to hope for the best and remain cautiously optimistic about Finland’s future.
“I always say, if Finland wants to be the best in sports like ice hockey and spends so much on becoming a global leader in IT, why can’t we also be first in the world in human rights, and especially trans rights?” reflects von Knorring.
*Note: This article was written in July 2021 and does not include updated developments. The Right to Be Initiative has since been moved to a parliamentary committee while the working group is continuing its attempts to update the legislation.
Tahira Sequeira 