Spain says it will BAN trans women from female sport - and remove the Q+ from LGTBQ+
Spain's Socialist Party has announced plans to ban transgender women from competing against biological females in sports as part of proposed amendments to the country's LGBTQ+ laws.
The changes, announced during a party congress in Seville, also include removing the term 'queer' from the LGBTQ+ acronym.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez - who was recently re-elected as secretary-general of his Socialist Party (PSOE) despite corruption probes besetting his inner circle - has defended the proposals, which aim to address concerns raised by traditional feminist factions within the party.
But the planned reforms have ignited a fierce backlash from LGBTQ+ activists and left-wing coalition partners who accuse the Socialists - leaders of the minority government - of transphobia and aligning with far-right ideology.
At the heart of the controversy is a policy shift that would limit participation in female sports to individuals 'with a female biological sex', according to a document finalised at the weekend, according to The Telegraph.
This move follows criticism from feminist groups who argue that existing legislation has undermined women's rights and compromised fair competition in sports.
The changes come less than two years after the passage of Spain's 2023 transgender rights law, which allows individuals as young as 12 to change their legal gender, albeit with parental or judicial consent for those under 16.
They have reignited the debate over trans rights in Spain, which is widely seen as one of the most progressive and safest places for members of the LGBTQ+ community.
Participants of the annual LGBTQ pride parade carry the rainbow flag in Madrid, Spain
Participants compete in the High-Heels Race as part of the Pride celebrations, in the Chueca neighbourhood in Madrid on July 4 29, 2024
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez - who was recently re-elected as secretary-general of his Socialist Party (PSOE) despite corruption probes besetting his inner circle - has defended the proposed amendments to Spain's 'Trans Law'
Carmen Calvo, a former Socialist deputy prime minister and vocal critic of the original law, welcomed the amendments that she said would 'destroy the powerful battery of equality legislation in our country', according to The Telegraph.
She previously warned that the self-identification policy risked eroding hard-won equality legislation, citing instances where newly registered transgender women used the law to avoid convictions for violence against women.
Advocacy group Contra el Borrado de Mujeres (Against the Erasure of Women) also praised the decision, urging the government to revise regional and national laws that currently allow self-identified women to compete in women's sports.
'This is a crucial step toward protecting the integrity of women's sports,' the group said.
The tension reflects a broader rift within the feminist movement, with some arguing that transgender rights undermine the gains of cisgender women.
The proposed reforms have also triggered a wave of criticism from activists and political allies alike.
Irene Montero, former equality minister from the left-wing Podemos party, denounced the changes, writing on X: 'A trans woman is a woman. Whatever PSOE says, this is transphobia. The rights of trans people are human rights. Anything else is not classical feminism or left-wing politics, it's just transphobia.'
She also cited reports from Human Rights Watch, which condemned sex tests in sports as degrading and discriminatory - despite a torrent of scientific evidence that shows trans women hold a significant physical advantage over biological women.
A recent report from the United Nations revealed the huge number of medals female athletes have lost to trans opponents in elite sport and found that athletes born male had gender-specific attributes, such as higher strength, which were advantageous in certain sports and resulted in the 'loss of fair opportunity' for biologically female competitors.
Several transgender sportspeople who transitioned after retiring from competition have also admitted they would have enjoyed an advantage had they competed against women.
American swimmer Lia Thomas who was the first transgender athlete to win the highest US national college title when she swam for the University of Pennsylvania in 2022.
Transgender athletes who have won gold medals in sporting events include Canadian cyclist Veronica Ivy became the first transgender cycling champion when she won gold at the UCI Women's Masters Track Cycling World Championships
Mar Cambrollé, president of activist group La Plataforma Trans (The Trans Platform) accused the Socialist Party of co-opting feminist rhetoric to justify rolling out exclusionary policies.
She likened the PSOE's 'perverse use of feminism' to the 'right wingers saying migrants are the cause of crime.'
'When a progressive party falls into the same ideology as the ultra-right, pointing to us as harbingers of social evil, it's very dangerous for our democracy and the fight towards equality,' she said in a social media post.
For Sánchez, the decision to back these amendments is a political gamble, risking alienating progressive voters while appealing to a more centrist base concerned about the perceived overreach of recent transgender legislation.
One of Europe's longest-serving leaders, Sánchez has displayed adroit negotiating skills to stay in power since 2018, when he led Spain's only successful no-confidence motion against his conservative predecessor.
Last year he defied polls to win reelection by stitching together a fragile coalition and earning another term through 2027.
But the 52-year-old is being corralled by a series of legal cases - all still in the investigative phase - that have focused on a former member of his Cabinet as well as his wife and, most recently, his brother.
Sánchez stunned Spain last April when he said he was taking five days from his public agenda to consider his political future after his wife, Begoña Gómez, had been placed under investigation by a Spanish judge.
He eventually announced he would stay in power and launch an effort to tackle what he called fake news that is 'mudding' Spanish politics.
Spain's prime minister and Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE) secretary general Pedro Sanchez applauds during the inauguration of the Spanish Socialist Workers Party's 41st congress at the Palacio de Exposiciones in Seville, on November 30, 2024
The judge is probing allegations of influence peddling and corruption by Gómez.
The allegations were made by Manos Limpias (Clean Hands), a small group whose leader has links to the far-right. The group calls itself a union and has often tried to litigate against elected officials, and even against the sister of the current king of Spain.
The Socialist Party pounced on the fact that the allegations were based on articles published by media, mostly websites, with right-wing leanings.
Sánchez refused to answer questions when he was summoned by the judge, citing his prerogative as prime minister.
Gómez has also been dragged before a committee led by regional lawmakers in the Madrid region who say they are looking into her role as the director of a master's program at a public university. She denies any wrongdoing.
Also under investigation is the prime minister's brother, David Sánchez. In that case, too, Manos Limpias was behind the accusations of alleged influence peddling.
Last week, a judge announced she was investigating how David Sánchez was named to his post in the Department of Culture in the Badajoz provincial government in southwest Spain. David Sánchez denied any wrongdoing through his lawyer.
Government spokeswoman Pilar Alegría said last week that while the government respects the separation of powers and the judicial processes, she found 'suspicious similarities' between the cases involving the prime minister's wife and brother.
Another case that has rumbled on for several months revolves around an alleged corruption ring of business people and government officials suspected of having taken kickbacks for contracts to buy medical supplies during the COVID-19 pandemic.
