Right to change legal gender
You can change your legal gender in 112 countries and territories, but 38 require surgery.
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- Legal, surgery not required
- Illegal
- Legal, but requires surgery
- Unknown, N/A, or ambiguous
Recent Changes
- Jun 30 2021Became Legal, surgery not required in Michigan
- May 1 2021Became Legal, surgery not required in Ohio
- Jan 1 2021Became Illegal in Kuwait
- Jun 18 2020Became Legal, surgery not required in West Virginia
- May 28 2020Became Illegal in Hungary
- May 1 2020Became Legal, surgery not required in Victoria
- Feb 11 2020Became Legal, surgery not required in New Zealand
- Jan 10 2020Became Legal, but requires surgery in India
Right to change legal gender
Legal recognition of sex reassignment by permitting a change of legal gender on an individual's birth certificate.
Summary
Progress over time
Number of countries with equality for right to change legal gender over the past 60 years.
Recent changes
- Michigan, United StatesLegal, surgery not requiredJun 30, 2021
- Ohio, United StatesLegal, surgery not requiredMay 1, 2021
- KuwaitIllegalJan 1, 2021
- West Virginia, United StatesLegal, surgery not requiredJun 18, 2020
- HungaryIllegalMay 28, 2020
- Victoria, AustraliaLegal, surgery not requiredMay 1, 2020
- New ZealandLegal, surgery not requiredFeb 11, 2020
- IndiaLegal, but requires surgeryJan 10, 2020
- Colorado, United StatesLegal, surgery not requiredJan 1, 2020
- ChileLegal, surgery not requiredDec 27, 2019
Right to change legal gender by country
(and dependent territories)Legal, surgery not required
Right to change legal gender is legal, surgery not required in 74 regions.
- Europe (27)
- Austria 2009
- Belarus
- Belgium 2018
- Denmark 2014
- France
- Georgia
- Germany 2011
- Greece 2017
- Iceland 2019
- Ireland 2015
- Isle of Man 2009
- Italy 2015
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Malta 2015
- Netherlands 2013
- Norway 2016
- Poland 1964
- Portugal 2018
- Russia 2018
- Serbia 2019
- Spain 2006
- Sweden 2013
- Switzerland
- Turkey 2017
- Ukraine
- United Kingdom 2005
- North America (11)
- Bermuda 2004
- Canada 2017
- Costa Rica
- Cuba
- Greenland 2014
- Guadeloupe
- Guatemala
- Haiti 2016
- Jamaica
- Martinique
- Saint Pierre and Miquelon
- Africa (12)
- Angola
- Botswana 2017
- British Indian Ocean Territory
- Equatorial Guinea
- Kenya
- Lesotho
- Mauritius
- Mayotte
- Mozambique
- Réunion
- Saint Helena 2016
- Seychelles
Illegal
Right to change legal gender is illegal in 36 regions.
Legal, but requires surgery
Right to change legal gender is legal, but requires surgery in 38 regions.
- Asia (17)
- Bahrain 2014
- China
- Hong Kong 2013
- India 2020
- Indonesia 1973
- Iran 1987
- Japan 2004
- Kazakhstan 2003
- Kyrgyzstan
- Lebanon 2016
- Mongolia 2009
- Nepal 2013
- Singapore 1996
- Syria 2004
- Taiwan 2013
- Tajikistan
- Vietnam 2017
- Europe (13)
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Bulgaria
- Croatia 1994
- Czech Republic
- Estonia 1999
- Faroe Islands
- Finland 2003
- Latvia 2009
- Moldova
- Montenegro
- Romania 1996
- Slovakia 2016
- Slovenia 2011
- Oceania (1)
- Fiji
No data, no laws, N/A, or ambiguous
Data on right to change legal gender is unclear, not applicable, or missing in 84 regions.
- North America (20)
- Anguilla
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Aruba
- Barbados
- Belize
- Cayman Islands
- Curaçao
- Dominica
- El Salvador
- Grenada
- Honduras
- Montserrat
- Nicaragua
- Saint Kitts and Nevis
- Saint Lucia
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
- Sint Maarten
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Turks and Caicos Islands
- United States
- Africa (29)
- Benin
- Burkina Faso
- Burundi
- Cameroon
- Central African Republic
- Chad
- Djibouti
- Eritrea
- Eswatini
- Gabon
- Ghana
- Guinea
- Guinea-Bissau
- Liberia
- Libya
- Madagascar
- Mali
- Niger
- Republic of the Congo
- Sao Tome and Principe
- Senegal
- Sierra Leone
- Sudan
- Tanzania
- Togo
- Uganda
- Western Sahara
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
- Oceania (11)
- Australia
- Federated States of Micronesia
- Marshall Islands
- Nauru
- New Caledonia
- Palau
- Papua New Guinea
- Pitcairn Islands
- Solomon Islands
- Tokelau
- Tuvalu
- Antarctica (1)
- Antarctica
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