European Court Rules Turkey Cannot Make Sterilization A Requirement For Gender Reassignment

ΕΔΔΑ - Τουρκία: Η άρνηση πρόσβασης σε επεμβάσεις 

επαναπροσδιορισμού φύλου αποτελεί παραβίαση του

 δικαιώματος στο σεβασμό της ιδιωτικής ζωής

Μετάφραση για το transs.gr
* Irene Petropoulou

Το Ευρωπαϊκό Δικαστήριο Δικαιωμάτων του Ανθρώπου με τη σημερινή του απόφαση1 στην υπόθεση ΥΥ κατά Τουρκίας (αίτηση με αριθμό 14793/08), έκρινε ομόφωνα ότι υπήρξε:

παραβίαση του άρθρου 8 (δικαίωμα στο σεβασμό της ιδιωτικής και της οικογενειακής ζωής) της Ευρωπαϊκής Σύμβασης για τα Ανθρώπινα Δικαιώματα

Η υπόθεση αφορούσε την άρνηση των τουρκικών αρχών να χορηγήσουν άδεια να προχωρήσει τρανς άντρας στη διαδικασία επαναπροσδιορισμού του φύλου με την αιτιολογία ότι το πρόσωπο που υπέβαλε την προσφυγή, τρανς άντρας, δεν είχε πρώτα υποβληθεί σε επεμβάσεις με τις οποίες θα καθίστατο μονίμως ανίκανος να τεκνοποιήσει... »Διαβάστε περισσότερα εδώ --->
http://www.transs.gr/news1.php?nid=2955

LGBT rights activists wave a rainbow flag during a demonstration near Taksim Square in Istanbul, Turkey, Sunday, June 23, 2013. Petr David Josek/Associated Press

Europe’s top human rights court ruled Tuesday against the government of Turkey in a case brought by a trans man who was denied the right to gender reassignment surgery unless he agreed to be sterilized.

Twenty countries of the 47 states that have signed the human rights charter that created the Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) impose sterilization as a requirement for people seeking to change their legal gender, according to the organization Transgender Europe. Tuesday’s ruling, which is technically binding on the courts of member states, comes as several European countries are overhauling their gender identity laws to give more control over gender identity to individuals rather than to doctors or judges.

“It’s absolutely thrilling and important to have this judgement now,” said Richard Köhler, Transgender Europe’s senior policy officer.

The case began in 2005, when a Turkish court ruled that a trans man identified in court documents as Y.Y. could not undergo gender reassignment surgery because he was not infertile, a requirement for gender reassignment under Turkish law. He went to court rather than submit to medical sterilization. A Turkish court ultimately allowed him to move forward with gender reassignment in 2013, but the ECHR still heard his original challenge and awarded him damages of 7,500 euros in damages for the years he was unable to access gender reassignment surgery.

“The respect due to the physical integrity of the concerned party would be in opposition to his having to undergo” sterilization, the court ruled in a unanimous decision, and therefore a violation of the European Convention on Human Rights, the treaty on which the ECHR’s authority is based. “The resulting interference in the claimant’s rights with respect to his private life cannot thus be said to have been ‘necessary’ in a democratic society.”

While trans-rights supporters applauded the decision as a step in the right direction, this ruling was limited only to the sterilization requirement and did not address other barriers to gender reassignment such as having to have psychiatric professionals sign off on the request. Many countries are quickly moving to simplify the process for changing gender assignment on legal documents, removing barriers that critics say pathologize or dehumanize transgender people.

LGBT rights activists widely regard Denmark as having one of Europe’s most progressive gender identity laws. A law passed in 2014 eliminated the requirement of a medical diagnosis or treatment before someone can petition to change their documents through a simple administrative procedure. This was part of a growing wave to modify gender identity laws in Europe, and countries including the Netherlands, Iceland, Portugal, and Sweden have also changed their laws since 2012.

J. Lester Feder is a foreign correspondent for BuzzFeed News and is based in Washington, D.C. His secure PGP fingerprint is 1E6E D0AA 63D9 4B28 85AB 2133 CD52 1D31 F20D 2596

Contact J. Lester Feder at lester.feder@buzzfeed.com

Non si può imporre la sterilizzazione alle persone transessuali che chiedono la rettificazione anagrafica del sesso: a dirlo è la Corte europea dei Diritti Umani

Si tratta di una sentenza storica: la Corte europea dei Diritti Umani ha stabilito che l’obbligo di sterilizzazione imposto alle persone transessuali per la rettificazione anagrafica del sessoviola il diritto fondamentale della persona al rispetto della sua integrità fisica.

Pronunciandosi contro la Turchia, la Corte europea dei Diritti Umani ha detto chiaramente che una persona transessuale che richiede la rettificazione anagrafica del proprio sesso non può essere costretta a sottoporsi a interventi chirurgici di sterilizzazione. Un tale obbligo, infatti, violerebbe il suo diritto fondamentale all’integrità fisica e non risulta necessaria in una società democratica. Le persone transessuali godono del diritto alla realizzazione personale e al rispetto dell’integrità fisica e morale.

Maria Grazia Sangalli, presidente di Avvocatura per i Diritti LGBTI - Rete Lenford, ha così commentato:

Siamo contenti che la Corte, presieduta dal giudice italiano Riamondi, abbia deciso all’unanimità un principio fondamentale di ogni società civile. La sentenza della Corte europea dei Diritti Umani dà ragione a quanto abbiamo sempre sostenuto nei tribunali italiani e consentirà finalmente di interpretare la legge 164 del 1982, in materia di rettificazione anagrafica del sesso, in modo corretto, ovvero che lo Stato non può pretendere da una persona transessuale, che non lo voglia, di sottoporsi a intervento chirurgo che comporti la sterilizzazione.

Poi ha continuato notando che

anche la Corte costituzionale italiana è stata chiamata dal Tribunale di Trento a pronunciarsi sulla stessa questione. Riteniamo che la sentenza della Corte europea dei Diritti Umani sarà una pietra miliare anche per il nostro giudice delle leggi.

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