Dutch government apologizes for discredited transgender law

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The Dutch government has publicly apologized for a now discredited and scrapped law that required transgender people to undergo surgery and sterilization if they wanted to change their gender on their birth certificate. Dutch Minister for Education, Culture and Science Ingrid van Engelshoven said at a ceremony Saturday that “nobody should have experienced what you have experienced. I am truly sorry that it happened.” The law was in place for nearly 30 years until being scrapped in 2014. Transgender Network Nederland welcomed the ceremony, saying the Netherlands is the first country in the world to make such an apology. But the group said it took the government too long to scrap the law and compensation offered to people affected was too low.