The European Union Court of Justice will hear a case brought forward by a British-Romanian transgender man against Romanian authorities over their refusal to acknowledge his gender identity. The case has raised questions about free movement and citizenship rights under EU law. Arian Mirzarafie-Ahi, who moved to the UK in 2008 and obtained his British citizenship in 2016, began his transition the same year. The UK authorities gave him a gender recognition certificate while the country was still part of the EU. However, when Romanian authorities refused to acknowledge his name and gender change, demanding he follow the lengthy national procedure, he decided to take the matter to court.
ACCEPT Romania, a Romanian LGBTQ rights organization, is helping Arian with his case. According to the organization, Arian’s ability to travel freely in the EU has been restricted because his Romanian passport displays the wrong identity, which is unjustifiable. The case could set a precedent for other transgender people whose gender recognition is not being acknowledged elsewhere in the EU, harming their ability to travel freely, reside, work, study, or even vote across the EU. The case also raises questions about the rights that EU citizens lawfully acquired in the UK when it was still treated as a member state, and whether those rights are portable when those citizens wish to exercise their free movement rights.
- In 2021, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Romania violated the rights of two transgender people by refusing to recognize their identity because they had not undergone gender reassignment surgery. Despite Romania decriminalizing homosexuality in 2001, it still has socially conservative views and bars marriage and civil partnerships for same-sex couples. Romania’s Constitutional Court struck down a blanket ban on gender identity studies in 2020. The outcome of this case could significantly impact transgender rights across the EU.