The President of the Republic today vetoed parliament's decrees on choosing a neutral first name and measures to be adopted by schools to implement the law that establishes self-determination of gender identity and expression.
These two vetoes were announced through a note on the official website of the Presidency of the Republic on the Internet.
According to this note, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa vetoed the change in the regime for attributing first names «considering that the decree does not guarantee a balance in respect of the essential principle of personal freedom».
Regarding the decree on measures to be adopted by schools to implement the law that establishes the self-determination of gender identity and expression, the head of state considers that “it does not sufficiently respect the role of parents, guardians, legal representatives and associations formed by them , nor does it clarify the different situations depending on age».
The President of the Republic returns this diploma so that the future Assembly of the Republic «may consider introducing more realism in a matter in which there is little value in affirming principles that clash, due to their abstract geometricism, with people, families, schools instead of conquering them for the their cause, in a school that today has an increasingly multicultural nature in Portugal».
Regarding the so-called “neutral name”, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa argues that «it is legitimate as a choice of the parents», but that «it should not prevent the option for a non-neutral name if that is the will of the person who made that decision».
The head of state also criticizes this decree for “allowing a person, who decides to change their gender, to be able to unilaterally register this change on that person's marriage records or the birth of children, particularly minors, without the person with whom they were or is married or consulted or even informed, as well as without the other parent or adult child being able to comment or be informed».
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