Mapping the social and legal situation of transgender people Being transgender in Belgium Mapping the social and legal situation of transgender people Being transgender in Belgium Publisher: Institute for the equality of women and men Rue Ernest Blerot 1 B-1070 Brussels T +32 2 233 41 75 – F +32 2 233 40 32 [email protected] www.iewm.belgium.be Authors: Joz Motmans (University of Antwerp - Policy Research Centre for Equal Opportunities) in collaboration with Inès de Biolley & Sandrine Debunne (Cap-Sciences Humaines, nonprofit organisation - Université Catholique de Louvain) Supervisors: Prof. Josse van Steenberghe (University of Antwerp - Policy Research Centre for Equal Opportuni- ties) Ada Garcia (Cap-Sciences Humaines, nonprofit organisation - Université Catholique de Louvain) Policy Research Centre for Equal Opportunities (consortium University of Antwerp - Hasselt University) Lange Nieuwstraat 55, B-2000 Antwerp www.steunpuntgelijkekansen.be Cap-Sciences Humaines, nonprofit organisation - Université Catholique de Louvain Avenue de l’Espinette 18, B-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve www.capscienceshumaines-ucl.be Final editing: Geraldine Reymenants Hildegard Van Hove Institute for the equality of women and men Translation: Intrasoft International S.A. Revision: Ryan Combs Graphic design: Gevaert Graphics Responsible editor: Michel Pasteel - Institute for the equality of women and men File number: D/2009/10.043/14 Deze publicatie is eveneens in het Nederlands beschikbaar. Cette publication est également disponible en français. Being transgender in Belgium Mapping the social and legal situation of transgender people Joz Motmans in collaboration with Inès de Biolley Sandrine Debunne 2010 Contents Foreword 12 1. General introduction 14 1.1. Social and scientific context 14 1.2. Research questions 15 1.3. Reader’s guide 16 Notes 17 2. The ‘discovery’ of trans* 18 2.1. The history of trans* in the sciences 18 2.2. The current medical paradigm 20 2.2.1. Transvestitism/transvestism 20 2.2.2. Transsexualism 22 2.2.3. Transgenderism 23 5 2.2.4. WPATH Standards of Care 23 2.3. Critical reflections 25 2.3.1. The paradox of naturalness 26 elgium B in 2.3.2. Sex, gender and sexual orientation 27 2.3.3. The future: towards greater tolerance? 28 2.4. Discussion of the terminology: guidelines 28 transgender Notes 31 eing B 3. Prevalence of trans* 36 3.1. Lack of data 36 3.2. Prevalence of transsexualism in the specialist literature 37 3.2.1. Figures from Belgian gender teams 37 3.2.2. Different calculations of prevalence 38 3.3. Data from the National Register 40 3.3.1. Numbers per year 40 3.3.2. Gender distribution 41 3.3.3. Age distribution 42 3.3.4. Regions 43 3.3.5. Civil status 44 3.4. Conclusion 45 Notes 46 4. Legal position of transgender people 48 4.1. Human rights 49 4.1.1. Jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights 49 4.1.2. Belgian law of 10 May 2007 on transsexuality 51 4.1.3. The Yogyakarta principles 55 4.2. Discrimination on the basis of gender 57 4.2.1. The legal provisions at the European level and the jurisprudence of the European Court of Justice 57 4.2.2. Belgian law of 10 May 2007 with a view to combat discrimination between women and men 59 Notes 62 5 The situation of transgender people in different spheres of life 64 5.1. Employment 64 5.1.1. Importance of work 64 5.1.2. Status 65 5.1.3. Sectors 65 5.1.4. Unemployment figures 65 5.1.5. Coming out and harassment 66 5.2. Health care 67 5.2.1. Trans-specific health care 67 5.2.2. General health care 68 5.3. Education 68 5.3.1. Gender conformity ‘stronger’ than heteronormativity 69 5.3.2. Lack of information causes problems 70 5.4. Image formation 71 5.5. Social networks 71 6 5.5.1. Community life 71 5.5.2. Family 72 5.6. Partner relationships, sexual orientation and parenthood 72 elgium 5.6.1. Partner relationships and sexual orientation 72 B in 5.6.2. Parenthood 74 5.7. Self-help organisations 78 transgender 5.8. Sport 79 eing B Notes 81 6 The online survey 86 6.1. Methodology 86 6.2. Response: numbers 89 6.3. Socio-demographic variables: description of the survey group 89 6.3.1. Sex 89 6.3.2. Age 90 6.3.3. Civil status 90 6.3.4. Children and desire to have children 92 6.3.5. Regional distribution and language 93 6.3.6. Nationality 95 6.3.7. Education and employment 96 6.4. Identity and lifestyle 99 6.4.1. Gender, gender identity and self-identification 99 6.4.2. Becoming aware of gender identity 102 6.4.3. Living according to gender identity: openness, obstacles and consequences 103 6.4.4. Seeking help in connection with gender identity 106 6.4.5. Sexual orientation 110 6.5. Experiences and reactions of acquaintances 112 6.5.1. General 112 6.5.2. Family and friends 114 6.5.3. School 117 6.5.4. Work 120 6.5.5. Health care 123 6.5.6. Police and the justice system 127 6.5.7. Official change of identity 129 6.5.8. Rights and anti-discrimination 136 6.6. Representativeness of the study 138 Notes 139 7 The case study: transgender people in the job market 140 7.1. Focus groups 140 7.2. Unions 144 7.3. Employment agencies 145 7.4. Good practices in business: IBM 146 7.5. Good practices: drawing up information brochures and codes of conduct 148 Notes 151 8 Summary and policy recommendations 152 7 8.1. The legal position 152 8.1.1. Right to gender reassignment 152 8.1.2. Protection of the right to marry and family life 153 8.1.3. Need for appropriate anti-discrimination legislation 154 elgium B in 8.2. Education and employment 154 8.2.1. Need for information and mediation agency 155 transgender 8.2.2. Need for gender changes on diplomas and certificates 155 eing 8.3. Health care 156 B 8.4. Education 157 8.4.1. Lack of proper information and training 157 8.4.2. Specific guidelines about transgender youth at school 158 8.5. Image formation 158 8.6. Support of organisations 158 Notes 159 9 Appendices 160 1. Trans Survey questionnaire 160 2. Questionnaire for employment agencies and unions 184 3. Topic list interview ‘Good practices’ 188 10 Bibliography 190 List of tables Table 1 Type classifications on Harry Benjamin’s Sexual Orientation Scale 19 Table 2 The prevalence of transsexualism and sex ratios in the three regions 38 Table 3 Inherent prevalence of SRS in Belgium 40 Table 4 Active prevalence of SRS in Belgium 40 Table 5 Active prevalence of SRS in relation to population figures for 2008 40 Table 6 Number of official change of sex registrations per year 41 Table 7 Number of official change of sex registrations per year by sex at birth 42 Table 8 Numbers by age at the time of the official change of sex registration 42 Table 9 Average age at the time of the official change of sex registration, by year 43 Table 10 Numbers by region at the time of the official change of sex registration 43 Table 11 Numbers by region and sex at birth at the time of the official change of sex registra- 44 9 tion, and sex ratio by region Table 12 Numbers by civil status at the time of the official change of sex registration 44 Table 13 Civil status at the time of the official change of sex registration before and after the 45 elgium adoption of the law on gay marriage of 13 February 2003 (Belgian State Gazette 28 B in February 2003) Table 14 Summary of the number of requests for information lodged with the Institute for the 60 transgender equality of women and men in relation to trans* eing Table 15 Number of respondents 89 B Table 16 Birth gender 90 Table 17 Birth gender and language 90 Table 18 Age breakdown 90 Table 19 Civil status 91 Table 20 Civil status by birth gender 91 Table 21 Family circumstances 92 Table 22 Number of respondents with children 92 Table 23 Child(ren) living with the respondent 92 Table 24 Living with partner’s/house-mate’s child(ren) 93 Table 25 Desire to have children by age 93 Table 26 Distribution by province 93 Table 27 Province/region and original survey language 94 Table 28 Province/region and town or country 95 Table 29 Nationality of the respondents 95 Table 30 Nationality of the parents 96 Table 31 Mother tongue 96 Table 32 Highest educational level attained 97 Table 33 Current employment status 97 Table 34 Type of contract 97 Table 35 Full-time or part-time 98 Table 36 Sector of employment 98 Table 37 Number of subordinants 98 Table 38 Number of colleagues 99 Table 39 Number of contacts with clients, pupils, students, patients, etc. 99 Table 40 Gender identity and birth gender 100 Table 41 Self-identification and birth gender 101 Table 42 Identity types 102 Table 43 Longevity of gender identity (all respondents) 102 Table 44 Longevity of gender identity (GI) and identity type 103 Table 45 Average age at which respondents became aware of gender identity (GI) 103 Table 46 Living according to gender identity (all respondents) 103 Table 47 Living in the desired gender identity: with whom and for how long 104 Table 48 Desire to live according to gender identity in the future 104 Table 49 Obstacles to living in the desired gender identity 104 10 Table 50 Respondent has had suicidal thoughts 105 Table 51 Number of suicide attempts 105 Table 52 Consequences of and reactions to the desired gender identity 105 elgium B Table 53 Consequences of and reactions to living or not living in gender identity 106 in Table 54 Contact with organisation or self-help group 106 Table 55 Sought help by identity type 107 transgender Table 56 Sought help: differences between transgenderists and transsexual people 107 eing B Table 57 Reasons why respondents did not seek help 108 Table 58 Reasons why respondents want help but did not seek help 108 Table 59 Transition