Romanian court recognises transition without sterilization requirement

Arian Mirzarafie-Ahi, a history teacher with dual citizenship, fought a nearly six-year legal battle to have his gender recognised in his homeland after making a legal transition in the UK.

Arian Mirzarafie-Ahi, a history teacher with dual Romanian and British citizenship, has won a nearly six-year legal battle to have his gender recognised in his homeland after making a legal transition in the UK, local news portal Spot reported.

According to Spot, the 6th Sector Court of Bucharest and the Bucharest Tribunal ruled that the Romanian state must issue a new birth certificate to the man. This was previously required by the European Court of Human Rights.

Mirzarafie-Ahi changed his British documents to a male name in 2020, when the UK was still a member of the European Union. On this basis, he requested that his Romanian documents be changed as well, but was rejected. In Romania, the old rule that required sterilization to change documents is still in force.

Mirzarafie-Ahi, with the support of the Accept Association, tried to achieve a change of document through the courts and in 2024, the ECHR signed a historic decision. The court ruled that all EU member states must recognize legal gender transitions carried out in other countries.

Two years later, the national court finally upheld that decision. Now, Arian Mirzarafie-Ahi will receive the correct documents of both countries of which he is a citizen.

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