Something is Rotten in Denmark: Gender Identity in Education and Public Institutions

by Dorte Toft

Credit: Lemberg Art/Midjourney

The dominant trans lobbyist organization, LGBT+ Danmark, ignored The Cass Review. No public statement was made even though the Cass Review pointed out that the quality of the research underlying gender reassignment treatment for children and young people is "remarkably low" and that thousands of children have been let down. The three largest media outlets in Denmark, the public service broadcasting channels DR and TV2 and the largest newspaper, Politiken, were also silent.
 
A few weeks later LGBT+ Danmark published an updated political program with more demands directed at authorities and others. A significant part of the claims concerned transgender people, and some of the claims were contrary to the Cass Review’s recommendations.

LGBT+ Danmark is generally well regarded by the population and in the Danish parliament, Folketinget, except by a few political parties on the far right. Homosexuals gained the right to marry in 2012, and self-identification as the opposite sex was adopted in 2014. In 2017 gender dysphoria was removed from the Danish list of mental illnesses, and in 2021 the hate speech law was extended to explicitly include transgender persons.

Demands from LGBT+ Danmark

Like Stonewall in the UK, LGBT+ Danmark’s recent focus has been the T, with demands for, among other things, easier access to more publicly funded treatment and more LGBT+ knowledge in schools. Among the trans-related demands in the updated political program are the following:

• Abolish the lower age limit for legal gender reassignment (currently: 18 years).

• Give access to “gender-affirming treatment” for children and young people in several places in the country (today centralized at a center in Copenhagen, often criticized for not being “gender affirmative” enough).

• Free “gender-affirming” items such as breast binders and breast prostheses.

• A ban on conversion therapy for gender dysphoria.

• Revision of teaching materials and syllabus lists in school with the particular aim of promoting diverse representation.

• The municipalities must ensure that LGBT+ teaching material is used in schools.

• Gender-neutral changing and toilet facilities must be obligatory when it comes to the construction of new buildings in the public sector.

• Access for everyone in grassroots sports through inclusion policies, including access for transgender people to gendered teams and e.g. the option of mixed-gender teams

• Make it possible to change the gender marker in one's passport without changing legal gender.

• A change to the criteria for “gender confirmation treatment.” Adults with long-term gender incongruity shall have quick and easy access to “gender confirmation treatment.”

• Introduce better appeal possibilities for getting “gender-affirming treatment.”

• Surgical gender “confirmation treatments” must be free of charge—covered by the public treatment guarantee with free choice of hospital and the option of treatment abroad (Phalloplasty, construction of a penis-like part with urethral extension, is not offered in Denmark due to the high risk of complications, only metoidioplasty—the formation of a micropenis).

• Having already started hormone treatment must be interpreted as emergency treatment in the Health Act and can be offered to foreigners, including refugees and prison inmates.

• A right to voice training in all municipalities for people with gender incongruity.

• In prisons and detention centers, transwomen must be searched by female prison officers, and transmen by male prison officers.

• Force the police to register that the victim believes that it is a hate crime in connection with reporting a hate crime.

• Investigation of loss of personal data and access in the event of legal gender change, including whether sanctions can be introduced for private companies that do not meet the requirements to make it possible to carry out gender-affirming change of “CPR number” (Denmark’s social security number, Central Personal Registration) without any issues.

• In the long run, the CPR number must be made gender-neutral (a very difficult, time-consuming, and costly procedure as it also necessitates changes in all public data systems with personal data and company systems using CPR as a key).

NOTE: The sections in italics were added by the author. Also, it is important to note that, whereas English has two words, sex (the biological) and gender (used for gender identity and sometimes for sex too), Danish only has one, “køn”, making the language less precise.

Denmark is a small country with just 5.9 million citizens, which is one of the reasons there are no organizations like LGB Alliance, Genspect, or Sex Matters. Also, The Danish Women’s Association, Dansk Kvindesamfund, is of no help.

There is a small and relatively new organization called the Danish Rainbow Council, Dansk Regnbueråd—they disagree with LGBT+ Danmark, have placed their focus on LGB, and work to have the “gender reassignment treatment” for children and adolescents banned. The organization declares itself to be cross-political. Regarding children’s “gender change”, their goals are promoted politically by small far-right parties.

Self-ID Gender Change

Self-identification in relation to “gender reassignment” was introduced in 2014. In order to change your legal sex, the only requirement since then is the person believing he/she is the opposite gender.

Although the limit for legal “gender reassignment” is 18 years, some children and adolescents have been the change beginning in the fall of 2023 with reference to "Denmark's international obligations". It turns out that it may be against the European Convention on Human Rights to deny them a change of social security number.

The change just requires a request, which needs to be confirmed after a six-month so-called reflection period. Then the CPR number (social security number) is changed first, and the birth certificate, passport, and driving license follow.

From 2014 to August 2023, a total of 2,301 people in Denmark have had a legal gender change, and the number is increasing each year. During the last 12-month period a total of 381 people changed their sex. Sex distribution in legal gender reassignment is not stated in the statistics published by the Danish Ministry of the Interior and Health.

The Public Health System

Minors with gender dysphoria are referred by their general practitioner to one specialized place, Sexologisk Klinik, at Denmark's largest hospital, Rigshospitalet, in Copenhagen. During the period 2016-2022, 341 children and young people were treated, but there are no available figures for how many of them were put on puberty blockers.

During 2022 the clinic's use of puberty blockers fell drastically, influenced among other things by the debate in Sweden and some other countries about the absence of sufficient evidence for the benefits of treatment with puberty blockers versus the problems with it.

Sexologisk Klinik only began a follow-up in 2023 regarding the children and young people who have been treated from 2016 onwards. So far there are no statistics publicly available regarding the occurrence of ADHD, autism, self-harm, depression, or other conditions. There is nothing about same-sex attraction and nothing about their social background.

The age limit for the first prescription of cross-sex hormones in Denmark is 15. To get surgery, one must be 18 years of age or older. Up until now, the surgery was conditional on the patient being on hormone therapy. From 2023, the removal of breasts is also allowed for those who are no longer on exogenous hormones. However, some young people buy their medicine online from abroad and seek out surgeons abroad.

According to the Danish health authority, Sundhedsstyrelsen, there are no plans to follow the recommendation from The Cass Review not to refer young people to one of the three gender identity clinics for adults until they are 25. In Denmark, they are referred to these clinics when they turn 18.

Sexologisk Klinik’s capacity is limited because of the steep rise in the number of teens wanting to "change sex"—a large number of whom also have psychiatric diagnoses.

According to the clinic, in 2021 girls made up 80 percent of those who wanted gender change. The following year, girls made up 70 percent.

LGBT+ Danmark demands more treatment centers for children and adolescents and has mentioned the adult clinic in the city of Aalborg as an option. The Aalborg center, whose chief executive is one of three Danish members of WPATH, is popular in the trans community. The other two adult clinics are in Copenhagen and Odense.

As far as detransitioners are concerned, no young person has yet come forward in Denmark, only one person who transitioned at around 30. I am told that there are a few desisters and detransitioners who don’t want to go public, but I have been unable to confirm this.

However, it is reported officially that a small number of young people have stopped treatment. The reasons for this have either not been investigated or told publicly. But as mentioned, Sexologisk Klinik has been criticized by trans activists for being too strict, and for carrying out a time-consuming exploratory investigation. That practice at the clinic will have reduced the risk of repeating what happened at Tavistocks GIDS, and many clinics in the US and Canada.

The Education System

Lobbying in Kindergartens

In Denmark, it has been quite limited how much young people in kindergartens and primary schools have been presented with the claim that you can be born in the wrong body, that sex is something a doctor "assigns at birth", and that you can “change sex”. But that seems to be about to change.

In recent years the Association for the Support of Transgender Children (Foreningen til Støtte for Transkønnede Børn, FTSB), which has around 300 members, has offered advice to children’s institutions and others. With support from the Danish Health Authority, Sundhedsstyrelsen, FSTB has also published publications aimed at kindergartens, schools, and families, and is an effective lobbying organization that influences politics and policies.

FTSB’s publications are about the importance of confirming a child’s gender perception, they provide information about the possibilities for gender change, puberty blockers, and cross-hormones. The FTSB’s materials only reference research that supports gender “reassignment” treatment for children and young people. The Danish Health Authority, Sundhedsstyrelsen, has also helped finance a children's book titled Storm og Vikingedysten.

According to the FTSB association, most children between the ages of 2 and 4 know what "gender identity" they have. Staff in kindergartens, primary schools, etc. are recommended, just like parents, to support children's perception of gender identity. It is also recommended that they support the desire for social transition, that is, a change of first name, pronouns, clothing, and legal gender, whenever possible.

According to the FTSB, puberty blockers are "a recognized medical drug", and, when the child stops taking them, the body will "resume its normal pubertal development". It is not stated that this medication is not approved for use on teenagers with gender dysphoria, nor that the treatment is irreversible at certain points, nor that its effect on brain development during the critical years is unknown.

There is no official material in Danish that covers both sides, for either kindergarten, primary school, or parents.

Elementary Schools

A publicly supported small organization, Normstormerne (The Norm Stormers), used to run a program in which young people from their organization went into primary school classes and taught, among other things, gender identity ideology. However, the Normstormerne lost popularity and money, mostly because the teaching materials were kept secret and because there was no control over their finances.

LGBT+ Denmark has increased its efforts to reach schools. This happens partly because they offer courses for school teachers and others, partly via a so-called youth-to-youth project, which is free for schools. The organization recruits young volunteers who want to take on the task, and they receive teaching materials prepared by LGBT+ Danmark.

This NGO also offers courses on the link between young people with autism and the desire to change gender.

Secondary Schools and Universities

In Denmark, just over 30,000 15-17-year-olds each year choose to finish primary school by taking the last year at a boarding school (“Efterskole”)  where hobby-focused education is also prioritized. Depending on the school, everything from drama to skiing is on offer. This part of the education system is not completely free of charge—parents have to pay some of the cost.

Several of the boarding schools, and especially those with an emphasis on creative subjects, stress their transgender friendliness in their marketing including, for example, by mentioning gender-neutral rooms. Certain statements also indicate that transition is promoted at such schools. The association of those boarding schools (Efterskolerne) has a member magazine whose articles emphasize the positive aspects of transitioning.

When it comes to high schools (“gymnasium”), not much is known publicly, but the subject of transgender is hardly mentioned in their magazine.

Gender studies at universities seem to prioritize gender as a social construct. As far as I am aware, no university-employed gender researcher has identified herself/himself as gender critical. Researchers in other disciplines are remarkably silent, despite the societal changes that the transgender movement is trying to achieve and despite the lifelong health consequences of medical transition.

Lobbying and Public Institutions

The gender neutralization of language with the removal of words such as “woman” and “mother” has only been seen sporadically in Denmark, but the Danish Health Authority, Sundhedsstyrelsen, which is ultimately responsible for the health system, uses terms such as "gender assigned at birth".

As mentioned above, the Danish Health Authority has co-financed publications from the Association for Support of Transgender Children (FTST) aimed at kindergartens, schools, and families. They have also financed a project at LGBT+ Danmark.

It is the responsibility of the Danish Health Authority to draw up guidance for treatments in the health system, but Denmark is no first mover when it comes to this subject. There has long been a call for an updating of the current guidance for the treatment of transgender people, not least for patients under the age of 18, so as to reflect the recent science on puberty blockers and more. The current guideline is from 2017 (slightly updated in 2018).

In April, the Danish Health Authority, Sundhedsstyrelsen, announced that a working group has completed the work on the updated guidance, which will be published in the course of "a few months". The Cass Review has not given the Danish Health Authority reason to reconvene the working group, but they “are aware” of it. 

It is known that Sundhedsstyrelsen will not follow the advice from The Cass Review of keeping young people in the same system until they are 25. In Denmark, they will continue to refer them to the adult system when they turn 18.

The most LGBT+ captured municipalities are also the country’s largest: Copenhagen, Aarhus, and Odense.

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Dorte Toft is a prize-winning business journalist, and author, and is now semi-retired. She started her career as a programmer, but the fight for the right to legal abortions in Denmark was one of the main reasons for her switch to journalism.

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Genspect publishes a variety of authors with different perspectives. Any opinions expressed in this article are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect Genspect’s official position.