In a landmark case, Kosovo’s Court of Appeal last month granted a transgender citizen the right to change their name and gender marker on their legal identification documents.
The decision was made August 2, but the LGBTI Equal Rights Association for Western Balkans and Turkey only announced it in an August 28 news release.
The organization’s announcement followed an August 22 announcement by Center for Equality and Liberty of Kosovo and the Center for Social Group Development.
The court overturned a previous ruling by the Civil Status Office in the town of Prizren, which denied the unidentified Kosovo transgender plaintiff’s request to change their name and gender marker on their legal documents at the Central Civil Status Register and Civil Status Principal Register, according to the release.
In the release, the organizations applauded the court’s decision, calling “it a very important step to further ensure the rights of the trans community in Kosovo.”
Transgender Kosovoars face discrimination and violence. More often than not members of the small community don’t declare their gender identity for security reasons and organizations are challenged to gather and report attacks and discrimination against the transgender community, according to the release.
Organization leaders said they see the decision as setting an example for how the registers will handle future gender identification change requests.
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