Queer As Art issue 2 April-May-June 2017 | Page 9

jurisprudence - meaning that judges have full power on this decision. Judges often badly informed or even completely ignorant, going as far as demanding physical examination of genital organs of the requester, a specific medical treatment (a specific operation, an hormonal treatment or a psychological follow-up) or even sterilisation. FRANCE IS AN OUT-LAW The right for civil state change is guaranteed by the European Commission of Human Rights since 1992. Despite recommandations from the French Equal Opportunities and Anti-Discrimination Commission (HALDE in French), from the UN (France having signed an international agreement where it stated its intention of fighting against discriminations suffered by LGBT+ people), from the European Commission of Human Rights, despite all this little lot knocking at its door and underlining the fact that France is violating its own rights, nothing. A juridical void. It was condemned on multiple occasions for its non-respect of the right to fair trial, of the right to privacy and family life, of the prohibition of discrimination and torture. It’s starting to weight heavy - 25 years of international condamnations. PROJECT “JUSTICE IN THE 21ST CENTURY” : ADOPTED ON THE 13TH OF OCTOBER 2016 The project “Justice in the 21st century” is a project to modify laws. The subject of civil state change was thus dug 8 up, which explains why it is finally spoken about after 25 years of silence. After a first reading at the National Assembly, it was sent to the Senate. The National Assembly finally adopted it on the 12th of October 2016, quoting : Art.61-5 “Any major or emancipated person who demonstrates sufficient facts stating that the mention relative to their sex in the civil state acts do not correspond to the one under which they present themselves and under which they are known can obtain its modification.” Here are a few points: - demand of a “physical appearance bringing the person close to the other sex” “of which corresponds his social conduct” “which was medically stated” - the fact of not having gone through an operation of one’s genital organs or of sterilisation can not motivate a refusal of the demand (as judges were too subjective) - it’s not spoken of a “syndrome of t r a n s s e x u a l i s m ” a n y m o re ( w h i c h disappeared of all psychiatric reference books since 2010 and which has thus been de-medicalised internationally seven years ago) - there is no need for medical attestations’. - it is thus not based on auto- determination - there is still no free access to the change, and it still has a cost - if the person has kids, their wrong gender will be noted in the birth certificate - the intangibility of the civil state is