Thursday, 12 March 2015
Tuesday, the Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) ruled that the requirement of permanent infertility to undergo gender reassignment surgery is a violation of the right to privacy, as guaranteed by Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
The case ended on the Court’s plate after Turkish authorities refused to grant authorisation for gender reassignment surgery because the applicant requesting it was not permanently unable to procreate.
Article 40 of Turkey’s Civil Code stipulates that persons undergoing gender reassignment surgery need to be permanently infertile, which the person in question was not.
However, according to the Court, the Turkish state breached the person’s right to respect for his private life by denying the person to undergo the operation. It added that making infertility mandatory for such treatment is a violation of the Convention.
Not only should forced sterilisation never be a pre-requisite for Gender Recognition, I agree wholeheartedly that every Transgender individual has a basic Human Right to confidentiality surrounding their individual Transgender Status as well as the rights to a Private and Family Life.
One can only but hope that this decision is recognised by all member states and results in appropriate revised Gender Recognition Legislation in all states.