EU court: Bulgaria must allow change of sex on birth certificate

According to Euractiv, the Court of Justice of the European Union has ruled that a Bulgarian man must be allowed to change the biological sex stated on his birth certificate after moving to Italy following gender reassignment.

The biological male currently lives in Italy, where he has undergone hormone therapy and presents as a woman. Bulgarian authorities rejected his request to change the information on his birth certificate, arguing that Bulgarian law understands gender exclusively in biological terms.

The Bulgarian supreme court therefore referred the matter to the Court of Justice of the European Union for an interpretation of EU law. The Luxembourg court found that refusing to update a citizen’s civil status records after they have exercised their right to live in another member state may restrict freedom of movement within the European Union.

At the same time, it emphasised that identity documents and passports are essential for exercising the right to free movement and that a mismatch between a person’s gender identity and official documents can cause serious practical problems.

Richard Köhler, adviser at Transgender Europe, described the decision as an ‘important step’ towards the legal recognition of transgender people in Europe. ‘Neither national laws nor courts can stand in their way.’

(max)