By Airam Fernández, from Santiago, Chile. Photo: Courtesy of Fundación Selenna* The final debate on the Gender Identity Bill (LIG) resulted in a significant victory for the Chilean LGBTI community: the inclusion of children and adolescents, who had been excluded during the initial Senate review. Last Thursday, the decision was reversed amidst a heated session in Valparaíso. Exactly one year ago, on January 18, 2017, the votes of three right-wing senators on the Senate Human Rights Committee excluded children. This time, in the second review of the bill, which is about to enter its fifth year in Congress, the Chamber of Deputies' decision to reinstate them was made with eight votes in favor, none against, and four abstentions, allowing them to legally change their name and gender. Constanza Valdés, legal advisor for Organizing Trans Diversities (OTD), celebrated this milestone, not only for the children, but also for the inclusion of the concepts of gender expression, the principles of not pathologizing the difference between biological and social gender, and the elimination of a medical evaluation that certifies that those over 18 years of age have the psychological and psychiatric capacity to justify the request for change.

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However, since the Selenna FoundationAn organization that brings together trans children and their families sees no victory here. “We do not support the project. We do not agree with seeking to prosecute minors. We consider it unfair discrimination, and furthermore, the children have not been heard. Nobody has spoken with them,” they told PresentsFor his part, Juan Enrique Pi, executive president of the Iguales Foundation, believes the bill “has improved significantly” in this second stage of its review. Valdés, from the OTD, shares the same opinion: “Last year, the entire right wing in the Senate agreed that many of the things we see approved today shouldn't have been included. In that sense, we see the liberalization of the Chamber, and that's because there are younger representatives,” the lawyer explained to Presents.

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What will the procedure be like?

We still have to wait for the resolutions from Monday's session, when the discussion will continue. "We still need to see the procedure under which minors can legally change their name and gender, because if the remaining provisions are voted down and there's nothing clear about the procedure, then it will be meaningless," Valdés explained. The same does not apply to those over 18, as the amendment regulating the administrative procedure for changing their name and registered gender was also approved on Thursday. Both Movilh, Iguales, and OTD highlighted this as another fundamental advance.

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After today's session, which will begin at 3:30 p.m. and could last until the early hours of the morning, as the organizations assert, there will be a recess in the chamber regarding the bill, due to Pope Francis's visit to Chile. The vote, which was scheduled for January 16, will now take place on the 23rd. This is because Socialist Deputy Fidel Espinoza prevented the initiative from being put on the agenda, after labeling it "provocative" that such a discussion would occur the same week the Pope will celebrate Mass in the country.

The pressure from the IACHR and the arrival of Piñera

Asked about the impact of the latest decision of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in this contextThe executive director of Iguales believes this comes at the perfect time for Chile, not only for the discussion of the Gender Identity Law (LIG), but also to exert pressure on the debate surrounding the bills for marriage equality and parental rights for same-sex couples. Both bills are already being processed in the Senate and, in theory, have a majority in both chambers, despite the upcoming presidential inauguration on March 11. “In that sense, the decision of Sebastián Piñera, the president-elect, will be crucial regarding whether these bills can continue their progress or whether he will obstruct them to prevent them from becoming law,” Pi told Presentes.

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The same could happen with the Gender Equality Law (LIG), explains Constanza Valdés, because once it is voted on January 23, the bill must return to the Senate. It will emerge from the Chamber of Deputies with modifications it didn't have when the senators on the Human Rights Commission approved it. “The problem there is that we might not have the necessary votes, considering that the discussion was very conservative at the time,” laments the lawyer from the OTD (Organization of Women's Rights). If the Senate rejects the bill's modifications again, it will have to go to a Joint Committee, in another race against time, due to Piñera's arrival: “The main struggle right now is that if it isn't approved before March 11, the bill might not pass because Chile Vamos, Piñera's coalition of parties, has already stated that this simply isn't a priority for his government,” Valdés reminded everyone. The members of the Selenna Foundation, parents and relatives of trans children, encourage the visibility of these children in the media as a way to claim their rights.