ECHR condemns Romania for "its position on gender identity"
Articol de RADOR, 19 Ianuarie 2021, 22:18
On tuesday, The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) condemned Romania for violating the right of two people to change their gender identity without undergoing a sex change operation, AFP reports, quoted by RADOR.
The two Romanian citizens, aged 44 and 38, registered at birth as women, were denied the request for sex change [in documents, it can be assumed] on the grounds that there was no evidence provided that they underwent a sex change operation.
The ECHR stated that the decision of the Romanian state put the two people, who did not want to have a sex change operation, in front of "an insoluble dilemma".
They should have either consented to an operation against their will and abandoned their right to physical integrity, or they should have abandoned their right to have their gender identity recognized - both rights fall under the protection of "privacy". Said ECHR.
The Romanian state placed the two people in a situation of "vulnerability, humiliation and unrest" and did not "equitably balance" the general interest in relation to the interest of the individuals concerned, according to the ECHR.
The ECHR judges unanimously condemned Romania, ordering the government to pay non-pecuniary damages of 7.500 euros to each of the applicants.
One of the applicants also received pecuniary damage of EUR 1.153 for operations to change the female genitals.
Translated by: Radu Matei
