(ANSA) - Paris, October 14 - A French court has upheld the
right of an intersex person to be identified as 'neutral' in the
civil register, media reported Wednesday.
The sentence, dating to August 20, represents the first
time a European court has recognised the right of an individual
to go beyond the binary definition of male and female.
The judges in Tours ruled in favour of a 64-year-old who
was born with a "rudimentary vagina" and "micropenis" and
without testes.
The child was registered as male at birth, but during
adolescence he realised he wasn't a boy.
"I had no beard, my muscles didn't develop; at the same
time, it was impossible to think I could become a woman," the
person told 20 Minutes.
"I only had to look in the mirror to understand this."
The Tours authorities will now have to modify the birth
certificate as a result of the sentence.
"It is not a matter of recognising the existence of a
'third sex' but of acknowledging the impossibility of defining
the interested party as this or that sex," the judges said in
their ruling.
French court in landmark 'neutral' intersex ruling
Case brought by 64-year-old registered as male at birth