Sweden’s parliament has rejected a proposal by the right-wing Sweden Democrats (SD) to abolish the country’s new Gender Identity Law, with every party except the Christian Democrats (KD) voting to keep the legislation in place—including the centre-right Moderate Party, a member of the European People’s Party (EPP).
The initiative was tabled in the Riksdag’s Social Affairs Committee on Tuesday. It urged the government to tear up the existing law and replace it with a far stricter framework. The proposal was voted down after failing to secure majority backing.
The Gender Identity Law, which entered into force in July 2024, removed the requirement for a medical diagnosis before a person can change their legal gender. The process is now primarily administrative, handled by a government authority rather than healthcare services. The reform also allows minors aged 16 and over to apply for a legal gender change with parental consent, and makes it easier for adults to access surgical procedures without prior approval from the National Board of Health and Welfare.
Following Tuesday’s vote, the Sweden Democrats posted on X:
The new Gender Identity Law is a failure. Since July 1 last year, legal gender can be changed without any medical assessment or evaluation whatsoever. The Sweden Democrats were the only party, together with the Christian Democrats, to vote against the law at the time. We stand by our view that sex is not a feeling, but a biological fact.
The Sweden Democrats have long argued that the removal of medical safeguards exposes vulnerable minors to life-altering decisions without adequate psychological screening. Party representatives have warned that teenagers struggling with anxiety, depression, or other mental health issues may wrongly interpret their distress as gender dysphoria, and that many cases of gender identity confusion resolve naturally after puberty.
In opinion pieces and parliamentary debates last year, SD lawmakers pointed to cases of young women who underwent irreversible procedures such as mastectomies before later expressing regret. The party has proposed not only repealing the law, but also introducing compensation for those who detransition after medical intervention as minors, as well as commissioning an independent review of clinics providing so-called gender-affirming treatments.
Beyond the medical dimension, critics argue that the law weakens legal clarity by detaching biological sex from official records. They have raised concerns about the implications for women’s sports, sex-segregated spaces, crime statistics, and child protection policies. Some have also accused state-funded preschools of promoting gender ideology in ways that, in their view, confuse young children.
KD backed Tuesday’s motion, having opposed the law when it was adopted in April 2024. At that time, a broad coalition of six parties—from left to centre-right—approved the bill by 234 votes to 94. Only SD and KD voted against it.
The committee’s rejection means no further legislative work will proceed at this stage. For now, the governing parties and the wider opposition remain aligned in defending the 2024 framework—leaving SD and KD isolated in parliament as they vow to make repeal a campaign issue ahead of the 2026 general election.
Nick Hallett is an assistant news editor for europeanconservative.com. He has previously worked as a journalist for Breitbart and as the online editor for The Catholic Herald.
