When it comes to queer rights, Iceland is 14th in Europe—where it was last year—indicating the the country has not made any significant advancements despite ILGA Europe’s, and others, recommendations last year.
According to a report from ILGA Europe, Iceland is doing best when it comes to legal gender recognition and bodily autonomy, largely thanks to the Gender Autonomy Act of 2019. This law removed many of the roadblocks that trans people face in other countries when it comes to access to health care and the legal recognition of their names and genders.
However, there are several areas where Iceland stands to improve itself.
Firstly, Iceland’s hate crime laws need to be expanded to include sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, and sex characteristics.
Intersex children are also still not protected against medically unnecessary and non-consensual surgeries on their genitalia, often taken when the child is only days old. “Prohibiting medical interventions on intersex minors when the intervention has no medical necessity and can be avoided or postponed until the person can provide informed consent in all cases, including micropenis and hypospadias,” ILGA recommends.
In addition, ILGA recommends that Iceland enact “laws on asylum that contain express mention of all SOGIESC (sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, sex characteristics) grounds.”
All of these recommendations were also made in last year’s report.
The full Rainbow Map, pertaining to Europe at least, can be seen here.
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