EU: “historic” court decision for transgender people

Member states must recognize a gender change obtained in another EU country, European justice ruled on Friday, ruling in favor of a Romanian citizen, a “historic” decision hailed by LGBT+ rights activists.

The refusal to “register in the birth certificate of a national the change of first name and gender identity legally acquired in another Member State is contrary to Union law”, declared the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in a judgment. It was seized by a court in Bucharest after the complaint filed by Arian Mirzarafie-Ahi, a transgender man faced with the rejection of his request by the Romanian authorities.

Registered in Romania as female, he moved to the United Kingdom in 2008 and obtained recognition of his male gender identity in 2020. Brexit has no impact on the dispute, this modification having taken place before the effective exit from the EU. On the basis of the British documents, he then requested his country of origin to issue a new birth certificate. Without winning the case.

“I cried when I heard the news. It’s a victory that I have been waiting for for so many years,” reacted this 32-year-old biology professor by videoconference from the United Kingdom, during a press conference organized in Bucharest by his supporters . “I now hope to have a more fulfilling life,” he added, very moved. The Accept association, which supported him in his legal proceedings, welcomed “a historic decision for transgender people”, stressing that it was the “first judgment” of this type from the CJEU.

According to the Court, the Romanian refusal “impedes the exercise of the right of free movement and residence”, the divergence between identities creating “difficulties” in daily life “as well as serious professional, administrative and private inconveniences”. This court, whose seat is in Luxembourg, adds that it is “not justified” to “force the person concerned to initiate new proceedings” in Romania, with the “risk that this will lead to a different result” , in this Eastern European country that is not very sensitive to the rights of sexual minorities. Such steps would be cumbersome and potentially “humiliating,” Accept confirmed.

Romania, a very conservative country where homosexuality was only decriminalized in the early 2000s, does not allow marriage or civil unions between people of the same sex. She was condemned last year by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) following the petition of 21 homosexual couples for refusing to recognize their relationships.

The influential Orthodox Church then denounced “civic partnership, a toxic source responsible for the dissolution of the moral authority of the family”. Numerous attempts have been made in recent years in Romania to restrict the rights of LGBT+ people: parliamentarians have notably tried to ban gender studies – the Constitutional Court opposed this – and to enshrine in the Constitution the ban on gay marriage.

Questions or concerns related to sexual orientation or gender identity?