Trans Ísland is an Icelandic advocacy organisation that supports transgender people in Iceland. As of 2018, the chairperson of the group was .

History

Trans Ísland was founded in 2007, as a section of

Samtökin '78 Samtökin '78, officially The National Queer Organization in English, is the national queer organization of Iceland and non-governmental organization dedicated to the interest and rights of Queer individuals in Iceland. The organization provides e ...

. In 2010, the group helped fight for the public broadcaster RÚV to stop using the term “kynskiptingur” (“sex-changer”) in stories about trans people, switching instead to “transfólk.” In 2015, the group assisted in establishing another group, Non-Binary Iceland, its sibling organisation. In 2019, the group was involved in helping draft a new law on legal gender recognition in Iceland, replacing the medicalised system with one based on statutory declaration and allowing individuals to choose a

third gender Third gender or third sex is an identity recognizing individuals categorized, either by themselves or by society, as neither a man nor a woman. Many gender systems around the world include three or more genders, deriving the concept either from ...

option known as " X" on official documents. The

Althing The (; ), anglicised as Althingi or Althing, is the Parliamentary sovereignty, supreme Parliament, national parliament of Iceland. It is the oldest surviving parliament in the world. The Althing was founded in 930 at ('Thing (assembly), thing ...

voted 45–0 to pass the law in June of that year. That year, the group's chairperson, Owl Fisher was named one of the

BBC's 100 Women ''100 Women'' is a BBC multi-format series established in 2013. The annual series examines the role of women in the 21st century and has included events in London and Mexico. Announcement of the list is the start of an international "BBC's wome ...

. In January 2020, the group was awarded a 500,000 ISK grant from the City of Reykjavík's Gunnar Thoroddsen Memorial Fund for humanitarian work. On Women's Rights Day in Iceland that year, organised an event together with the

Icelandic Women's Rights Association The Icelandic Women's Rights Association () is the largest women's rights organization in Iceland and works for "women’s rights and the equal status of all genders in all areas of society." The association stands for an inclusive, intersectional ...

(IWRA) that saw several different feminist organisations in the country discuss strategies to stop anti-trans sentiment from increasing its influence within Icelandic feminism. In December 2020, Trans Ísland was unanimously granted status as a member association of the IWRA. In January 2021, they collaborated with the RVK Feminist Film Festival for the 2021 edition of the festival.

References

{{LGBT-org-stub LGBTQ organizations based in Europe LGBTQ political advocacy groups in Iceland Organizations established in 2007 Transgender organizations 2007 establishments in Iceland

History

See also

References