Spanish troops change gender for more perks

Self-id law makes it easier to transition at same time as female recruits offered better salaries and housing

Spanish soldiers and policemen are changing their gender in order to access benefits meant for women, an investigation has found. Spain’s Left-wing government introduced a self-id law that made it simple to formally transition, while at the same time boosting benefits for women in the military and security forces. Since then, 41 men have transitioned to become women, meaning they can now earn better pay and live in superior accommodation.

‘For changing my gender, I have been told that my pension has gone up ... women get more to compensate for inequality’ ‘I even have a private room in the barracks ... I did not consider it appropriate to be with biological women out of respect for them’

SPANISH soldiers and policemen are changing their gender to access benefits meant for women, an investigation has found.

Spain’s Left-wing government introduced a 2022 self-id law that made it simple to formally transition while at the same time boosting benefits for women in the military and security forces. Since the change was introduced, 41 men have transitioned to become women in the Spanish territory of Ceuta in North Africa. Only four of that number have changed their names.

According to a report in online newspaper El Español, the majority of the 37 newly registered women are employed by the military or the police.

Roberto Perdigones, an army corporal who registered as female in the past year, now earns better pay and lives in superior accommodation. “On the outside I feel like a heterosexual man, but on the inside I am a lesbian. And it is the latter that counts. This is why I made the legal change to become a woman,” Cpl Perdigones, who continues to sport a beard, told El Español.

Sources close to Ceuta’s security forces said that there is a trend of male officers changing their legal gender in the hope of gaining promotions.

Cpl Perdigones said that “positive discrimination” was an incentive for becoming a woman. “For changing my gender, I have been told that my pension has gone up because women get more to compensate for inequality. I also get 15 per cent more salary for being a mother.”

The corporal is planning to sue for shared custody of a 16-year-old son, believing the new gender status will stand a better chance in the courts.

After changing gender last summer, Cpl Perdigones arrived at the barracks with longer hair than permitted for men and earrings that are also not permitted for male soldiers. The corporal has been allowed to keep the beard because facial hair is permitted for women.

“I even have a private room in the barracks, all to myself, with a private bathroom. This is because I cannot be with men as I am a woman, and I did not consider it appropriate to be with biological women out of respect for them.”

Under Spain’s transgender law, anyone can switch the gender on their ID card and passport by formally requesting the change, without additional requirements such as a psychological or medical report, as previously required.

Children from the age of 12 can also do so, but a court has to sign off on the move unless, in the case of those aged 14 and 15, their parents approve.

Spain has sought to boost the number of women in the Guardia Civil and National Police forces to 40 per cent.

The government has been accused of a string of “woke” progressive policies while in power, galvanising conservative opposition. Some policies have also backfired with dire consequences, including a reform to sexual consent that led to the early release of a number of offenders. The Socialists were punished at the ballot box last year but managed to keep hold of their majority by a razor-thin margin.

They are now embroiled in a major row over an amnesty offered to imprisoned Catalan politicians who conducted an illegal referendum to split from Spain. The amnesty has been set up to gain the support of Catalan MPS in the Spanish parliament, so the Socialists can cling to power.

Cpl Perdigones would not rule out a move to the police when too old for the army, beyond 45. The corporal will be able to take a specific physical test for women, which is less demanding than the tests for men.

Sources told El Español that officers in the Civil Guard, the national police and the local police in Ceuta were also changing their gender for benefits.

A Civil Guard source said many are doing it as a “rebellion” against the progressive laws. “I have already seen several cases among my colleagues, and it is going to increase, because there are quite a few people who have requested it and are in the process,” he added.