(ANSA) - Rome, July 20 - Gender reassignment surgery is not
necessary to have a sex change registered in Italy, the high
Court of Cassation ruled Monday.
The high court upheld an appeal from a transgender person
who, after having had their surgery authorised, then changed
their mind but still wanted the public registry office to record
the change.
"The desire to make body and psyche coincide is the result
of a hard-won and personal processing of one's gender
identity...including in the absence of surgical alteration," the
court wrote in its opinion.
This was a "historic" ruling, according to the Lenford
Network of lawyers for LGBTI (Lesbian, Gay, Transgender and
Intersexual (LGBTI) rights, which brought the suit on the
appellant's behalf.
The appellant is a man who has been living and is socially
recognized as a woman for the past 25 years and therefore no
longer feels the need for the actual surgery, the Lenford
Network said.
Surgery not needed to register gender change - court (3)
'Historic ruling' says Lenford Network for LGBTI rights