Children will have right to ‘change gender’, under EU proposal

14th October 2025

Children of any age could ‘change their gender’ and governments that try to enforce age limits may be punished by the European Union’s top judges, under new policies being tabled by the European Commission, the Times of London reports.

Faika El-Nagashi, a former Austrian Green MP who heads the European Athena Forum said the new LGBTIQ+ Equality Strategy 2026–2030 “places gender identity and ‘self-ID’ at the centre of EU equality policy, while neglecting the sex-based protections of women and girls”.

Under the proposals, children of any age would be able to identify as a gender different from their biological sex while therapies designed to question such thinking would be outlawed. The Cass Review in the UK strongly criticised the practice of giving children puberty blockers and sex hormones.

At a broader level, gay rights would be defined by attraction on the basis of gender identity, as opposed to sex.

Any government that tries to introduce age limits or resist the switch to gender, rather than sex-based, equality, could face action in the European Court of Justice, which has the power to assert the primacy of EU law over national legislators.

Both Ireland and the present EU proposal backs self-identification, in contrast to Britain, which requires a doctor’s approval to allow people, including children, to claim a gender identity different from their biological sex.