New draft: To strictly prohibit citizens from changing their gender more than twice in their lifetime in Vietnam

New draft: To strictly prohibit citizens from changing their gender more than twice in their lifetime in Vietnam (Internet image)

Regarding this issue, LawNet would like to answer as follows:

The Draft Law on Gender Change (referred to as the Draft) is being posted by the Drafting Committee for people's comments on the National Assembly's Duthaoonline page.

Draft

1. Citizens are strictly prohibited from changing their gender 2 or more times in their lifetime

Accordingly, Article 5 of the Draft clearly states the following prohibited acts:

- Stigma, discrimination, and giving false information to transgender people, their families, and relatives.

- Advocating, seducing, forcing, or forcing others to change gender.

- Taking advantage of transgender people for human trafficking, labor exploitation, sexual abuse, or other illegal acts.

- Taking advantage of positions, powers, and working positions to make it difficult for the person requesting gender change to exercise their right to gender recognition.

- Obstructing or making it difficult for the person requesting gender change to be recognized.

- Performing gender change for the purpose of profiteering, evading responsibilities and obligations, disturbing security and order, sexual harassment, or violating other laws.

- Citizens who have changed gender 2 or more times in their lifetime.

- Sterilization during medical intervention without the consent of the person requesting medical intervention to change gender.

- Revealing information, private lives, personal secrets, and family secrets of transgender people without their consent.

- Profiteering, making it difficult for medical intervention to change gender.

- Carrying out medical interventions and consultations when not qualified.

- Performing gender change while complying with obligations to the State, judgments and decisions of competent authorities.

- Failure to fully comply with the provisions of the psychological consultation process before and during medical intervention for the person requesting gender change.

- Organizations, individuals, and medical examination and treatment facilities refuse, without legitimate reasons, psychological counseling, medical intervention, or medical examination and treatment for transgender people.

At the same time, Article 6 of the Draft also clearly states:

- Citizens can only change gender once in their lifetime.

- Only performing medical intervention to change gender after the person requesting gender change has received psychological, medical, and legal advice.

- Ensuring voluntariness and freedom to choose medical interventions for gender reassignment.

Thus, according to the Draft, citizens changing gender twice or more in their lifetime is a strictly prohibited act.

2. Conditions for people requesting medical intervention to change gender

According to Article 10 of the Draft stipulates the conditions for people requesting medical intervention to change gender as follows:

- The age for performing medical intervention is prescribed as follows:

+ People aged 18 years or older for medical intervention methods specified in Article 9 of the Draft, except for the cases specified below;

+ People from 16 years old to under 18 years old if confirmed by a medical examination and treatment facility to have excessive gender harassment
can perform medical intervention methods specified in Clause 1 of Article 9 of the Draft with the consent of the father, mother, or guardian.

- Have received legal advice according to the provisions of this Law.

- Have civil act capacity.

- Marital status: There are 2 options (recommended to choose from)

Option 1: Single.

Option 2: Do not specify the marital status of the person requesting medical intervention to change gender.

- Not in the case of serving a suspended sentence, non-custodial reform, or additional criminal penalties such as being banned from leaving the place of residence and not having a criminal record erased.

Nguyen Ngoc Que Anh

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