Reframing the timeless debate about the legal implications of transexuality

Special reference to the situation of minors after Spanish Constitutional Court judgment 99/2019 of 18 July 2019

Authors

  • Elena Atienza-Macías Universidad de Deusto

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.35295/osls.iisl/0000-0000-0000-1187

Keywords:

Transsexuality, transgender minors, female genital mutilation, circumcision, sexual rights, right to privacy, human rights

Abstract

By virtue of the existing laws and regulations in Spain (i.e., Law 3/2007, of 15 March, regulating the register rectification of the entry related to a person’s sex) any person of Spanish nationality, of legal age and with sufficient capacity to do so, may request the register rectification for sex change. A new aspect regarding the legal age was introduced not long ago. In this regard, the Constitutional Court of Spain in judgment 99/2019, 18 July 2019, declared unconstitutional article 1.1 of the aforementioned Law 3/2007 since it does not allow the sex change in the registry (and, consequently, the name) to minors, who, however, have sufficient maturity and live in a steady state of transsexuality. The Court states that this prohibition implies a disproportionate interference in minors right to privacy and it is contrary to the principle that guarantees them a space for the free development of his/her identity. Under the pretext of the mentioned landmark case-law we will highlight a series of controversial issues concerning sexual rights. Obviously, this question is still subject to debate and has lost none of its urgency.

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Author Biography

Elena Atienza-Macías, Universidad de Deusto

Juan de la Cierva Postdoctoral Research Fellow (Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities), at the Chair in Law and the Human Genome Research Group, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU. Email address: elena.atienza@ehu.eus

References

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Published

01-06-2021

How to Cite

Atienza-Macías, E. (2021) “Reframing the timeless debate about the legal implications of transexuality: Special reference to the situation of minors after Spanish Constitutional Court judgment 99/2019 of 18 July 2019”, Oñati Socio-Legal Series, 11(3), pp. 930–947. doi: 10.35295/osls.iisl/0000-0000-0000-1187.