Blocking gender changes on IDs violates EU law, top court rules

The European Union’s top court ruled on Thursday that national legislation barring gender information changes was incompatible with EU law, citing the challenges faced when a person’s lived gender identity does not align with official documents.

The case concerned a Bulgarian citizen registered male at birth who has begun hormone treatment and identifies as a woman.

She moved to Italy and asked Bulgarian authorities to change her legal gender, name and identification number. Courts denied the request, pointing to national rules that define sex strictly in biological terms and ban changes to gender information.

The European Court of Justice said member states were responsible for issuing identity documents.

However, it found that a mismatch between a person’s gender identity and their ID can prompt doubts during routine checks, travel or professional interactions, causing “considerable inconveniences” that hindered their right to free movement.