The refusal of a Member State to“registering 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” European Union, declared the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), in a judgment delivered on Friday October 4. The latter resolved the question by ruling on the case of a Romanian transgender citizen who took the steps in the United Kingdom, before Brexit.
Such rejection “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”explains the CJEU. The court adds that it is not “not justified” of “force the person concerned to initiate a new procedure” 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.
The CJEU, whose headquarters is based in Luxembourg, was seized by a court in Bucharest after the complaint filed by Arian Mirzarafie-Ahi. This transgender man, with dual Romanian and British nationality, was faced with the refusal of the Romanian authorities to issue him a new birth certificate. According to the court, Brexit has no impact on the dispute, the modification having been obtained before the effective exit of the United Kingdom from the EU.
The Accept association, which defends the rights of LGBT+ people in Romania, welcomed during a press conference “a great victory for transgender people”recalling that it is the “first judgment” of this type from the CJEU.
Read also | Associations file an appeal before the Council of State to request the right to gender “self-determination”
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