What does EU court ruling in Romania case mean for trans rights?

• Romania must recognise trans man's gender - EU top court
• Decision recognises rights obtained in another EU state
• Rights groups hail victory for trans rights

BRUSSELS - Europe's top court has ruled that European Union states must accept changes of first name and gender registered in other countries of the bloc in a judgment that could have far-reaching consequences for trans rights, activists say.

The EU Court of Justice said last week that the refusal of Romanian authorities to recognise the gender identity of a British-Romanian transgender man infringed on his rights and contravened European law.

Rights campaigners said the ruling represented a victory for all trans people in the EU and increased legal protection for EU citizens exercising their right to free movement.

Legal gender recognition varies across the EU, with some countries, including Denmark, allowing self-identification, while others, such as Romania, require lengthy procedures, including sterilisation, before an individual can legally change their gender.

While the ruling is binding across the 27-member bloc, its application could face resistance from eastern European countries, including Bulgaria and Romania, where LGBTQ+ rights are restricted.

Here's what you need to know:

Who brought the case and what does it mean for trans rights in Romania?

The case was brought by Arian Mirzarafie-Ahi, a Romanian trans man with dual British-Romanian nationality. Mirzarafie-Ahi moved to the UK in 2008 and obtained his British citizenship in 2016, which is also when he began his transition.

He received a gender recognition certificate from the UK while the country was still part of the EU before Brexit took effect.

In 2021, Romanian authorities refused to acknowledge Mirzarafie-Ahi's name and gender change, demanding he follow the lengthy national procedure and arguing the UK was no longer part of the EU.

However, the Court of Justice judge ruled the UK's withdrawal from the EU was irrelevant, as the legal gender change was "obtained before Brexit and during the subsequent transition period".

This means that Romania must now recognise the rights of transgender people who have obtained legal gender recognition in another member state.

However, as the litigation in this case was focused on freedom of movement rights, it means the process for Romanian citizens seeking to change legal gender remains unchanged.     

What does this mean for legal gender recognition in the EU?

The ruling's impact extends beyond the individual case to confirm that rights legally obtained in one EU country apply throughout the EU, under freedom of movement rules, whereby the bloc's 450 million citizens have the right to live and work in another member state.

The court said that "gender, like a first name, is a fundamental element of personal identity," and therefore a refusal to recognise it creates difficulties "in daily life as well as serious professional, administrative and private inconvenience," which run contrary to free movement and non-discrimination rules.

Romanian LGBTQ+ rights organisation ACCEPT, which was a plaintiff in the case alongside Mirzarafie-Ahi, said the ruling set a precedent for transgender people whose gender recognition is being refused elsewhere, limiting their ability to travel freely, reside, work, study or vote across the bloc.

Can EU countries ignore the ruling?

The ruling is likely to meet resistance in central and eastern European countries, including Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania, where LGBTQ+ rights are increasingly under fire.

However, as the court's rulings are binding across the bloc, EU countries are legally obliged to establish a system to register name and gender changes that were legally obtained in another member state.

Countries will have a "hard time pushing back", said Miguel Mota Delgado, a legal researcher at the European University Institute, as non-compliance could trigger infringement procedures which could result in large fines or eventually the freezing of EU funds.

But, he added, the decision to trigger infringement proceedings remains at the discretion of the European Commission, which may decide against taking countries to court.

Plaintiffs have brought previous cases to advance LGBTQ+ rights using freedom of movement rules to the EU's top court.

These include efforts to establish the rights of same-sex spouses in Romania or parental rights in Bulgaria but the Court of Justice's rulings in these cases have yet to be applied.

(Reporting by Joanna Gill; Editing by Clar Ni Chonghaile.)