Positive outcome in transgender case before the European Court of Human Rights

Last week, I was saying that I usually got one good and one bad judgment from the European Court every year and was wondering where this one would sit. It turns out it sits somewhere in between.

The X. v. Macedonia judgment announced yesterday by the Court holds great promise for the future in that it requires Macedonia to adopt legislation on legal gender recognition in line with international standards. Macedonia remains one of the last countries in Europe without even a semblance of legislation on legal gender recognition, with trans people forced to flee the country or live in limbo. 

The dissenting opinion of judges Pejchal and Wojtyczek on the other hand is the latest and perhaps most vicious signal that reactionary conservative propaganda is well and truly entrenched at the Court, raising a worrying question about values and about the nature of the mandate entrusted to judges sitting on a human rights court. More about this in due time. 

I am particularly delighted with a small but meaningful detail in the first paragraph of the judgment, stating that "Respecting his self-identification, the Court will refer to his gender as male." The practice of the Court so far on designating trans applicants has been rather mixed so far, with misgendering a source of great frustration for applicants and their representatives. The Court's clearly-stated commitment to self-identification is a telling response to a question I raised during the meeting between Court and applicants that took place in Strasbourg one month ago. It is very encouraging to see that dialogue make a meaningful difference, rather than being an empty notion!

My role in this case has been as main cheerleader and supporter to the applicant's lawyer, Natasa Boskova, whose hard work and selfless commitment through the years were truly inspirational and whom I am grateful to call a friend. Last but not least, I would like to salute X for his resilience and optimism in the face of great adversity. I hope your case gets settled and that a great new law will finally be adopted soon enough!

ILGA Europe statement is available HERE. 

The judgment is available HERE.