Romanian court recognises trans man’s gender in landmark EU-backed case

Romania has been ordered to legally recognise a transgender man’s gender identity, in a decision hailed as a major advance for trans rights in the country.

The Bucharest Tribunal has rejected multiple appeals against an earlier ruling in favour of Arian Mirzarafie-Ahi, a Romanian-born trans man with dual Romanian and UK citizenship.

The court’s decision follows a 2024 judgment by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), which held that legal gender changes obtained in any EU member state must be recognised across the bloc.

Mirzarafie-Ahi obtained updated legal documents in the UK in 2020, but Romanian authorities had refused to acknowledge his gender, despite his Romanian citizenship. His initial claim before a Romanian court was referred to the CJEU amid questions over how Brexit affected his rights, GCN reports.

The EU court found that Romania’s refusal to recognise his gender identity was discriminatory because it restricted his freedom of movement within the EU. The ruling made clear that member states must recognise legal gender changes granted elsewhere in the union.

In 2026, after continued resistance from Romanian authorities, Mirzarafie-Ahi’s case resumed before the Sector 6 court in Bucharest and was ultimately settled in his favour at the national level. Romania is now required to issue him a new birth certificate reflecting his gender identity. The judgment extends to all transgender people whose gender has been legally recognised in another EU country.

The case is widely seen as a landmark victory for transgender people in Romania and comes as LGBTQ+ activists and organisations intensify efforts to secure legal recognition for same-sex couples.

In 2023, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Romania violated the rights of same-sex couples by denying them access to marriage or any form of legal partnership. At the time, then–Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu stated that responding to the ruling was not one of his “priorities”.

While Romania has yet to introduce civil partnerships or equal marriage, advocates say Mirzarafie-Ahi’s success demonstrates that international human rights standards can be used to advance legal recognition and equality for LGBTQ+ people in the country.