Since 1972, transgendered individuals in Sweden who wish to legally change their sex must first be sterilized. Yes, you read that correctly. Sweden, progressive homeland of Ingmar Bergman and government subsidized everything, has arguably the most aggressively anti-trans policies of any developed nation.The Swedish government has always been fiercely protective of its own culture and genetically “Swedish” population. There was an aggressive sterilization program in place from the 1940s to the 1970s, mostly aimed at immigrant populations and other genetic “undesirables.” The eugenics legislation justifying Sweden’s sterilization policies was formally abolished in 1976, but only after as many as 31,000 people had been sterilized. However, a 1972 law requiring all persons seeking to legally change their gender to first be sterilized remains on the books. This legislation further stipulates that any transgender person must also prove that they have not stored any of their gametes (eggs or sperms) in sperm banks for future use. The Swedish government effectively robs trans individuals of their right to produce biological offspring in any way.“It is a violation of human rights to force a person to have surgery that they do not need or want in order to have your gender legally recognized,” said the Swedish actress Aleksa Lundberg, who was sterilized when she transitioned from male at the age of 17. She’s pictured up top, and is now performing a one-woman show, “Infestus,” about her experiences as a young boy, her sex change in her late teens, and life as a grown woman, which has played all over Sweden to acclaim.Read the rest at Motherboard.