In a significant political shift, Portugal's parliament has voted to advance three bills that would dismantle key parts of the nation's progressive gender identity laws. The move, driven by a coalition of the centre-right governing alliance and the surging far-right opposition, marks a stark reversal for a country once seen as a European leader on LGBTQ+ rights.
The proposed legislation, which passed its first reading by a vote of 151 to 79, would reintroduce significant barriers for transgender people. The bills collectively seek to ban gender-affirming healthcare for minors, reinstate mandatory medical diagnosis for adults seeking to change their legal gender, and prohibit discussions of so-called "gender ideology" in schools for under-18s. If enacted, the laws would largely revert Portugal's legal framework to its 2011 status, once again pathologising transgender identity.
The lead proposal from the centre-right Social Democratic Party (PSD) would revoke the landmark 2018 gender identity law in its entirety. This would mean adults could no longer self-identify their gender for legal purposes, instead requiring a formal diagnosis of "gender incongruence" from a specialised medical team. The repeal would also eliminate broad anti-discrimination protections based on gender expression, safeguards for trans students in schools, and social name protections for minors and non-binary people.
Separate bills from the far-right Chega party and the Christian conservative CDS-PP propose even stricter measures. Chega's legislation seeks an outright ban on all gender-affirming care for transgender youth and would weaken anti-discrimination protections in spaces like bathrooms and prisons. The CDS-PP bill specifically targets access to puberty blockers and hormone therapy for minors. LGBTQ+ organisations warn these changes would strip protections from trans youth who have already begun social transitions.
Debate in the parliament was heated, with some lawmakers using rhetoric reminiscent of the American far right. CDS-PP's Paulo Núncio labelled gender-affirming care for minors "the greatest delusion of wokism against children in Portugal," while Chega's Madalena Cordeiro asserted that "a man is a man and a woman is a woman."
Ahead of the vote, over 60 civil rights groups condemned the initiatives in a joint statement, calling them "an attack on the bodily integrity and individual autonomy of everyone." Protesters gathered outside the Assembleia da República in Lisbon, where a read manifesto affirmed, "We existed before there were laws or parliaments... we are still here."
The bills now proceed to committee for further debate and potential amendment before a final parliamentary vote. Any consolidated legislation would then be sent to centre-left President António José Seguro, who holds the power to veto or refer it to the Constitutional Court. For now, the protections of the 2018 law remain in full effect.
