Work on updating Finland's transgender legislation is moving forward slowly. A Ministry of Social Affairs and Health working group is missing its 31 January deadline to propose changes to the law. The sticking point now is whether to give 15 year-olds the legal right to change their gender.
The government has said it wants to remove sterilisation requirements for people wanting to legally change their gender.
Tanja von Knorring, who chairs a transgender advocacy group Transfeminines, told Yle that children know which gender they are from a young age.
"This is about legal gender—something that's important when it comes to things like school gym class. It's about the right to be yourself and not be mistreated in different situations."
The issue of minors changing their legal gender has proven a difficult topic for Finland's political parties—perhaps most so for the Centre Party. The party has outlined that minors should neither be able to change their legal gender, nor should such changes be a subjective right.
"It's been an especially difficult issue for the Centre Party but I've also seen other parties issue statements calling for additional studies into the matter," von Knorring said.
Trans rights groups have said they hope a new law scrapping sterilisation requirements could come into force next year.
Under Finland's current legislation, a trans individual has to provide proof that they have been sterilised before they can acquire legal gender recognition. The Finnish government has been facing mounting pressure to reform the act, particularly from human rights organisations and the EU, which have stated that it violates the European Convention on Human Rights.
Parliament's Committee on Social Affairs and Health is currently dealing with a citizens' initiative calling for reform of Finland's transgender legislation. The initiative, titled "The Right to Be," received the 50,000 signatures required to progress to Parliament last year. This initiative coincides with a government proposal to amend the same laws.