The European Union’s top court ruled Friday that every member country must recognize official changes to gender identity acquired elsewhere within the 27-nation political and economic bloc.
Legal experts say the ruling will boost protections for transgender people in the region.
The decision followed a case brought by a dual British-Romanian national named Arian Mirzarafie-Ahi. Mirzarafie-Ahi was registered at birth in Romania as female, then moved to Britain and obtained legal recognition of his male gender identity. Romanian authorities later refused Mirzarafie-Ahi’s attempts to update his identity documents.
Opinion: I’m the parent of a trans daughter. There’s nothing conservative about blocking her care.
“Gender, like a first name, is a fundamental element of personal identity,” the European Court of Justice said in a news release on its ruling.
“A divergence between identities resulting from such a refusal of recognition creates difficulties for a person in proving his or her identity in daily life as well as serious professional, administrative and private inconvenience.”
Access to gender recognition certificates varies across Europe, as it does in different states in the U.S., according to the ILGA Europe, an advocacy group for LGBTQ+ people.
Romania is a socially and culturally conservative EU country where lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people routinely face legal challenges and discrimination over their rights. In Britain, a gender recognition certificate can be obtained provided the person is at least 18 and has been evaluated by a medical professional, among other requirements.
Opinion: Judge struck down Florida ban on gender-affirming care for trans kids. It’s the right move.
The EU’s 500 million citizens have the right to live and work in any other member state.
The court ruled that its decision applied to Mirzarafie-Ahi in Britain even though the country is no longer part of the bloc because the proceedings were launched before it left the EU, known as Brexit.
