Trans rights at risk in Portugal as far-right gains powerhttps://www.lgbtqnation.com/2026/03/trans-rights-at-risk-in-portugal-as-far-right-gains-power/ 🔗Greg Owen (29 March 2026)
Under a recently elected conservative government, opposition lawmakers are saying Portugal is backsliding on LGBTQ+ rights with a set of three new measures that erase several advances under the country's previous Socialist governments.
On Friday, Parliament took a step toward approving the repeal of a 2018 law that enshrines a right to gender self-determination and the protection of individual sex characteristics. It was one of the most far-reaching laws of its kind when it was introduced in its original form in 2011.
Three bills to amend the law were advanced by a far-right conservative coalition that now holds a controlling majority in Portugal's Parliament.
Among other provisions, the repeal of the original law would reinstate a requirement for "medical validation" for anyone changing their name and gender in the country's civil registry, Euronews reports.
Those changes are currently possible for any citizen without a medical certificate. 16- to 18-year-olds only need parental authorization and a report from a health professional attesting to their "capacity for decision-making and informed will." The amended law would again require the approval of a "certified" medical board.
According to language in the new proposal, a report that "proves the diagnosis of gender incongruence" must be prepared by a specialized multidisciplinary clinical team in a public or private health establishment and must be signed by at least one specialist physician and one specialist psychologist.
