- FELGTBI+ demands legal, administrative, and social recognition without pathologization or exclusion.
- Its state research places harassment at 29% and assaults at 23% over the past year.
- 57% of victims do not report these violences to the police or other authorities.
Non-binary people still lack specific legal recognition in Spain, according to FELGTBI+. The Federation renewed its demand on July 14, International Non-Binary Visibility Day, and linked the administrative absence to everyday problems, greater exposure to violence, and difficulties in reporting it.
A demand that goes beyond a checkbox
The State Federation of Lesbians, Gays, Trans, Bisexuals, Intersex, and more argues that Spanish legislation still does not recognize those who do not exclusively identify as men or women. Therefore, it requests legal, administrative, and social recognition that does not impose pathologization or exclusion.
The president of FELGTBI+, Paula Iglesias, defines the issue as a matter of rights. Her stance is that a democracy cannot leave a part of the citizenry outside legislative protection, even though Spain has made progress in other areas of LGTBIQ+ equality.
The absence of recognition manifests in ordinary tools. Aike Martín, coordinator of the Trans Policy Group of the Federation, points out forms that do not consider non-binary identities, documents that do not reflect them, and academic titles that do not respect the identity of their holders.
The organization adds difficulties in healthcare, administrations, and work. These experiences turn the debate into something broader than the inclusion of a third option on a form: it affects a person’s ongoing relationship with public and private institutions.
FELGTBI+ does not present non-binary identity as a medical category or as an exception needing clinical authorization. The demand for recognition without pathologization places self-determination and equality of treatment at the center of the debate.
The violence data accompanying the demand
The claim is supported by the State Research on LGTBI+ Hate 2026, prepared by FELGTBI+ with the collaboration of members of a research team from the Institute of Public Policies and Goods of CSIC.
According to data released by the Federation, approximately one in three non-binary people experienced harassment in the past year: 29%. Additionally, 23% suffered some form of assault, a proportion close to one in four.
The third data reveals an institutional barrier: 57% of victims did not report these violences to the police or other authorities. FELGTBI+ relates this underreporting to the vulnerability generated by not being recognized by the very system one would have to turn to for protection.
The figures do not replace individual experience, but they show that the absence of recognition coexists with measurable situations of harassment and assault. They also allow us to observe that a majority of cases remain outside official channels.
Aike Martín warns of consequences for health, social perception, and full participation. The Federation’s thesis is clear: if forms, documents, and procedures deny a person’s identity, that same person may find it more difficult to trust institutions when they suffer violence.
Spain facing the next frontier of equality
Law 4/2023 consolidated measures for the real and effective equality of trans people and the guarantee of LGTBI rights. However, FELGTBI+’s statement emphasizes that the current framework does not offer the recognition demanded for identities outside the binary scheme.
Paula Iglesias recalls that other countries have adopted recognition formulas and uses those precedents to argue that the measure is viable. The Federation believes that Spain’s position as a reference in LGTBIQ+ legislation implies the responsibility to continue advancing.
The argument is not to deny existing progress, but to point out its limits. A law can protect against discrimination based on identity or gender expression and, at the same time, maintain administrative procedures that force a choice between categories that do not represent all people.
Legal recognition would have to then translate into compatible systems: records, documents, forms, educational files, labor processes, and healthcare. The demand made by FELGTBI+ is precisely integral because an isolated change would not resolve the chain of procedures where exclusion appears.
From visibility day to a concrete agenda
The statement was published on July 14, coinciding with International Non-Binary Visibility Day. The date serves to concentrate public attention, but the problems described by the Federation occur throughout the year: when presenting a document, requesting assistance, or validating an academic title.
The agenda proposed by FELGTBI+ demands that non-binary people stop depending on informal solutions or the discretion of each office. The goal is stable and common recognition, with legislative protection and procedures that respect identity in practice.
The debate also forces a distinction between visibility and recognition. Being named in campaigns or celebrations does not equate to existing before institutions. For the Federation, the next test of Spanish equality consists of moving from social presence to verifiable rights.
While that reform does not arrive, the data on violence and underreporting adds urgency to the discussion. The question is no longer solely how each person defines their identity, but whether the State guarantees that they can relate to its services and exercise their rights without being erased by administrative design.
