9 years of waiting for a change of sex in the civil status. The Human Rights Commission pleads for the simplification and demedicalization of procedures.
The change of marital status must be simplified for transgender people. This is in essence the opinion delivered on June 5 by the National Consultative Commission on Human Rights (CNCDH). Seized in 2013 on this subject, she pleads for a simplification of the procedure. It will have to be both less medicalized and less judicialized.
The CNCDH delivers its conclusions when a law must modernize the judicial system. But the institution is concerned about the provisions governing the modification of the indication of sex in civil status. Today, transgender people face a lot of discrimination and regular threats – as reported in the latest SOS Homophobie report.
The legal framework offers them little protection, the Commission notes. The change of sex in the civil status is subject to two conditions: transsexualism must be diagnosed and the operation undergone must be irreversible, and therefore be accompanied by sterility.
A complex journey
The CNCDH sees several problems with this course not only complicated, but also humiliating for most of the people who take the steps.
First, the process does not respect privacy or physical integrity. In addition, “the judicial process of sex reassignment always results in a degradation of the social condition of the person, forced for too long a period to live in a gender opposite to that recognized by his marital status. “The ambiguity is still maintained on the criteria allowing a change of sex. Authorization is therefore subject to the discretion of the tribunal de grande instance.
To resolve these pitfalls, the Commission recommends several major changes, starting with a complete overhaul of the legislation. It thus rules against a written referral to the high court and in favor of a two-stage procedure: a declaration to a civil status officer and then an approval to a judge at the bench. She also wants the process to no longer be subject to medical advice, which would shorten the waiting time, currently 9 years.
Discriminating terminology
The notion of gender identity is also at the heart of the CNCDH’s claims. To date, the term gender identity is used in legal texts. Terminology that feeds the ignorance about transgender people, because it means that a sex reassignment operation is essential. And as the Commission emphasizes, the process has not always been taken in this direction. On the other hand, “gender identity refers only (…) to an intimate perception and experience of oneself disconnected from physiological determinations”, she explains in her opinion. The use of this term is crucial in French law to comply with international texts.
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