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Join us and start writing letters to incoming members of the Parliament of Finland!

Us young people of the lgbtia-community often feel like politicians don’t quite understand what it’s like to be a young lgbtia person, and therefore we’re not always included in the decisions, even when those decisions directly affect our daily lives. In order to get our voices heard in the Parliament, it’s important to bring forth our own individual stories and ideas.

We at Seta’s Youth Committee want to encourage young lgbtia people to write about their life, their problems and anything they’ve always wanted the members of parliament to know. You can also write about how different changes in the legislation could personally change your life as a person of sexual/gender minority.

We mean to give these letters to the chairs of Parliamentary Groups, relevant committees and to the new possible Parliament’s LGBT- network after the elections. Our main goal is to build new understanding between decision-makers and young lgbtia people and in doing so, help the members of parliament to take us in consideration when they’re making important decisions. This way we’re also helping the members of parliament in making better decisions and being a part of a better, more equal Finland. The letters can also be published on our social media if given the permission of the writer.

Write your letter here

On behalf of the Youth Committee,

Seve Hujanen, chairperson
seve.hujanen@seta.fi

Since the beginning of the year 2019 a new name law has come into effect. The law is intended to follow a fairly liberal interpretation on gender issues. The registry offices have created their own internal guidelines under the supervision of the Ministry of Justice. This document examines the most important aspects of the minority law within the name law.

When you change your name to match your gender identity, it should be easier for you to succeed.

• The change can be made electronically if there is no regulatory consideration (in Finnish and Swedish).
• More often than earlier, judging is done at the registry office instead of the name board.
• When you change your name on basis of gender identity, gender expression or gender features,
• The name can be a male, a female, a gender neutral or all of them mixed, up to four names in total
• No need to worry about listing gender-neutral names
• The list of gender-neutral names is quite permissive overall, for example the name does not become gendered if its number of ’second gender’ holders is reduced to less than five
• Legal identity in line with the strengthening of gender is not required, ”a reliable demonstration” of the need for change is enough
• A 15-year-old can use independent opinion and their position is critical in the event of a conflict. They can also be heard on the matter alone if the caretaker is not reached.

However, not everyone will go according to all wishes:

• The change is free of charge only in connection of the strengthening of the legal gender. Otherwise 1 change costs 45 € and the second change is more expensive.
• ”Reliable demonstration” of gender identity is something that has not yet been tested.
• In the case of a child under the age of 15, their guardian or other legal representative might not be in favor of the child. Adults might not support the child’s identity.

Seta’s representative body meets from the 24th to the 25th of November in Tampere to elect a new board consisting of a president, a vice president, 2 board members and a substitute board member.

If you’re interested in candidating for the Seta board, we hope you could fill in this form at the latest on the 19th of October 2018. By answering the questions proposed by the election committee on time, we can make sure that the representative body’s electorate gets all the information about the candidates well before the meeting. The presentations that arrive later than that will be added to the online meeting folder during the following workday.

The election committee hopes you can keep the answers concise (a maximum of 500 characters), and reserves the right to shorten answers that exceed the limit. If you have a question about anything, please feel free to contact kiti.kalliomaki@seta.fi.