The proposed changes would restrict gender-affirming care and legal recognition, prompting the United Nations to warn of serious consequences for trans people’s fundamental rights.
The United Nations has sent a letter to the Portuguese government calling for a halt to the rollback of the gender identity law in place since 2018. In the letter, sent on August 25 and revealed by the Portuguese edition of Público, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk asks lawmakers to reconsider the changes proposed by right-wing parties, arguing they affect “the exercise of several human rights” enshrined in treaties ratified by Portugal. According to Türk, the rollback risks “re-pathologizing gender identity” and negatively affects trans people’s rights to privacy, autonomy and self-determination.
The reform was passed in March by Portugal’s Assembly, where 70% of seats are held by right-wing or far-right parties, with 159 votes in favor and 79 against. The rollback, driven by the PSD — the main party in the governing coalition alongside the CDS-PP — bans any gender-affirming therapy for minors and legal gender changes, while adults over 18 must hold Portuguese nationality and be diagnosed with “gender incongruence” to begin transitioning. A separate proposal from Chega, the third-largest parliamentary force, goes further, following the international far-right playbook: banning the use of public restrooms based on gender identity, barring trans women from women’s sports, and forcing them to serve prison sentences in men’s facilities.
Chega leader André Ventura has responded that his party will not withdraw the bill under any circumstances and that it is not the UN’s place to decide what Portugal’s parliament passes; the CDS-PP has called the letter “unacceptable interference.” The PSD has been more cautious, even though the UN’s letter is aimed primarily at conservative lawmakers, whose votes will be decisive. The left-wing opposition, led by the Bloco de Esquerda, has welcomed the UN’s intervention and urged the PSD to act “with conscience.” The report frames this push, alongside similar moves in Spain, the UK and the US, within Michel Foucault’s concepts of biopower and biopolitics.