Court of Appeal affirms the right of individual to sex change and respect to private life

The Court of Appeal in Beirut headed by Judge Janette Hanna has substantiated the right of a person in changing his/her gender at the Census Department as a respect for his/her psychological, gender, moral and social status. The decision taken on 3/9/2015 by the Court comes in response to a request by a woman who wanted to change her status to male at the Census Registry. Earlier, the Single Judge in Beirut in charge of personal status records repealed a lawsuit pleading gender transition at the relevant Census division despite a confirmation by the medical doctor that the patient, the plaintiff, suffers an irreversible mental and sexual behavioral disorder with nil possibility to salvage her feminine biological parts.

In its detailed verdict, the Court of Appeal maintained that the appellant has since birth suffered from gender disorder and has possessed male physiognomies as well as psychological, emotional and behavioral male characteristics. She has received a medical report pointing out that “her determination to undergo a sex transition operation is based on a level of maturity that allows her to go ahead with the procedure”. Moreover, the woman judge admitted the suffering of the appellant noting that sex change was “the outcome of a medical operation needed to relieve a life-long grief”. The Judge also supported the “essential and natural right of an individual to receive the treatment that alleviates his/her psychological and physical ailment and no one can deprive him/her of this right,” she said. The Court of Appeal went even further putting forward the right to respect and protect one’s private life. The Judge made clear that “correcting the errors at the Census Department necessitates a consistency with the truth, meaning that the identity should accurately reflect the status of its holder.” Accordingly, “the correction cannot be restricted only to the material error made at the time of registration while excluding other cases where the identity is not consistent with reality.” (Al Akhbar, January 14, 2016)