EU Court of Justice Makes Strides for Trans Recognition
The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has ruled that countries with membership in the European Union (EU), or member states, must recognize legal documents from other countries that certify the changed name and identity of trans people, even if the member state does not recognize their own transgender citizens legally.
This case was brought to the CJEU following the plight of a trans Romanian man, Arian Mirzarafie-Ahi, who moved to the United Kingdom pre-Brexit, legally changed his name and gender while in the U.K., and then was denied that change upon returning to Romania. The country refused to recognize his new legal name and gender in order to acquire an updated birth certificate for records, leading Mirzarafire-Ahi to sue Romania in the CJEU. Romania argued that the change violated their anti-trans laws, and that because the U.K. has since left the EU and the two countries no longer share those pacts necessary for members, Romania had no obligation to recognize the change.
The CJEU, however, thought differently. The court argued that this would be a case of Romania illegally restricting its citizens’ freedom of movement between other countries, and that this restriction puts an “unfair burden” on individuals in similar cases to Mirzarafie-Ahi who would be under two separate identities in two different countries, creating all sorts of imaginable legal issues with providing identification.
To quote the CJEU directly, they ruled that policies such as Romania’s unwillingness to recognize out-of-country identification changes strips trans people of their “right to establish details of their identity as individual human beings, which includes the right of transsexual people to personal development and physical and moral integrity and to respect for and recognition of their sexual identity.”
Mirzarafie-Ahi, in an interview with the Washington Post, reports feeling endangered previously when crossing in and out of Romania, enduring personal and invasive questions from officials about his surgical status and what was in his pants, as his passport (which Romania refused to update) didn’t reflect his outward appearance. Mirzarafie-Ahi’s legal representative, Iustina Ionescu, says, “Today’s verdict has shown us that trans people are equal citizens of the European Union. When you have rebuilt a life in another part of the European Union because you are not welcome in your own country, it is normal to ask to be treated with dignity when interacting with the authorities in your home country.”
This is now the second time in recent history when the CJEU has brought increased freedom and protections to the LGBTQ+ community present within the EU member states. In 2018, the court ruled that member states have to recognize same-gender marriages performed in other countries, even if they themselves do not allow it under their legal structure. The CJEU’s ruling, while naturally and unfortunately divisive, is ultimately another step forward for not only trans individuals, but broadly for the queer community in Europe, as it will affect all 27 member countries under the umbrella of the EU.
