Considering how shocking people find Sweden’s law, it's worth pointing out the country is 1 of 17 in Europe (shown in red below) that require trans people to have a surgical procedure that results in sterilization before legal gender change is made to their identification ID.
The countries are:
Portugal
France
Belgium
Netherlands
Italy
Greece
Romania
Poland
Czech Rep.
Slovakia
Latvia
Denmark
Sweden
Finland
Estonia
Cyprus
And apparently one country I can not find no matter where I look.
According to a report on transgender rights (PDF) in the EU by the Directorate-General for Internal Politics, the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe says, "These practices run counter to the principle of respect for the physical integrity of the person, in particular because transgender people appear to be the only group in Europe subject to legally prescribed, state enforced sterilization." For all the instances that require ID—health insurance, travel, driver’s license, university enrollment, jobs—when name and gender on a state-issued ID don't match up with the gender a person presents, that person is subject to debilitating challenges and discrimination. It also leaves anyone who doesn't identify and present as specifically male or female out of the conversation completely.
That is just sad.
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