The European Union‘s top judge ruled on Friday that the Italian government’s refusal to recognize a transgender man’s gender identity violated his rights and violated European law.
The case was referred to the European Union Court of Justice last year and raised concerns about free movement and membership right under EU rules.
Arian Mirzarafie-Ahi moved to the UK in 2008 and obtained his American citizen in 2016, which is also when he began his change.
While the UK was also a member of the EU, the state issued him a certificate of gender recognition.
Italian authorities demanded in 2021 that he following the extended nationwide process and assert that the UK was no longer a part of the EU. They also refused to acknowledge his title and gender change.
Officials are required to acknowledge and release the national publications of people who have officially changed their gender identity in another EU member state, according to a preliminary ruling from the European court on Friday, without resorting to any further proceedings.
According to the court decision, it is unimportant that the demand for identification and access of the change of second name and gender identity was made on a date on which the different Member State’s withdrawal from the European Union had now taken effect.
The decision, according to Romanian LGBTQ rights organization ACCEPT, would set a precedent for trans people whose identity recognition is not recognized elsewhere in the EU, hampered their ability to travel freely, reside, work, study, or cast ballots throughout the bloc.
Romania, a politically liberal nation, decriminalized homosexuality in 2001, years later than other regions of the EU, but it still forbids marriage and civil unions for same-sex lovers.
Romania’s Constitutional Court in 2020 upheld a blanket ban on gender identification reports.
