ABSTRACT
Three years later, I would not change my view that transsexuals are seeking a set of freedoms related to gender assertion, but would now argue that the identity politics of transsexuals, as a sub-group of the larger transgender community, has shifted considerably. They are no longer asking the law to recognise them simply as men and women, but rather they are seeking for the law to recognise them as transmen and transwomen – a status that goes beyond the dichotomous structures of sex and gender roles recognised within and by the law. This will be evident in the following analysis, which aims to explain and analyse the early cases dealt with under the ECHR, to contextualise them and finally to explain how human rights issues in this field have evolved beyond the traditionally stereotypical, to encompass basic questions concerning recognition of the civil status of members of the trans community.
