Legislation significantly facilitating the procedure for changing gender and name came into force on Saturday in Switzerland. For this, citizens of the country now only need to submit an application to the authorities and pay a fee of 75 francs. No medical examination or other preconditions are required, TASS reports.

Parliament introduced the relevant amendments to the legislation in December 2020, and in October 2021, the government (Federal Council) decided to enter into force on January 1, 2022. The Federal Council clarified that citizens now have the right, through a simple and quick procedure, to modify the indication of gender and name by filing an application with the Office of Civil Status.

Such a statement can be submitted by any citizen who has an internal firm conviction that he does not belong to the gender indicated in the civil status act. If the person wishing to change gender and name is less than 16 years old, then the consent of his legal representative will be required.

The Government clarified that the gender-related changes in the civil status act did not affect family law in any way, including kinship and marriage registration. In this case, only the female or male gender can be indicated in the civil status register. At the moment, there is no third gender option for those wishing to change sex, and there is also no way to refuse to indicate gender.

In 2022, same-sex couples in Switzerland will have the right to enter into a full-fledged marriage: the relevant legislation will enter into force on July 1. At the referendum held in the country in September 2021, 64.5% of citizens spoke in favor of legalizing same-sex marriage.

In Switzerland, since 2007, couples of two men or two women have been legally entitled to enter into a registered partnership. This gave them a number of the same rights that heterosexual married couples have, in particular in the areas of inheritance, pensions and adoption and adoption of a child by one partner by another partner. However, they did not have the right to adopt and adopt children together, as well as to use the services of medical centers for artificial insemination in Switzerland.

The new legislation will give them these rights. In addition, if one of the spouses of the same sex does not have a Swiss passport, he will now be able to take advantage of the facilitated acquisition of Swiss citizenship after marriage. A registered partnership, according to the new rules, can be transformed into a legal marriage.