Lebanese transgender man wins court battle to change gender

Lebanese transgender man wins court battle to change gender
Lebanon has officially recognised the rights of transgender people after a court battle from a man following a gender reassignment operation.
1 min read
15 January, 2016
Lebanon's LGBT community have been fighting for equality [AFP]

Transgender Lebanese can now change their gender legally, a Beirut court has ruled.

It comes after a Lebanese man went to court to have his gender legally and officially recognised as male following a gender reassignment operation.

Judge Janet Hanna at the Court of Appeal agreed, saying the man's case met three basic criteria.

This includes the right to change gender to "relieve psychological and social suffering, the right to access treatment for gender conditions and the right to privacy," the court ruled.

The man had battled to change his gender and "suffered since birth from gender identity disorder disease".

A medical report backed his case although a court initially denied his request to change gender.

He took the case to the country's court of appeal in September and on Thursday won his months' long legal battle.

"The person's right to receive the necessary treatment to relieve the suffering from physical and mental illness is a fundamental and natural right, no one can deprive him of it," Judge Hanna said, according to Gay Star News.

The decision is seen as a breakthrough for transgender and GBLT people in the region, and activists hope that other countries will follow suit.