Federal court passes groundbreaking verdict: Julian P. wants to be neither a woman nor a man

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Is someone officially allowed to have no gender, ie be neither female nor male? The highest Swiss court will consider this question on Thursday. The answer will have a political signaling effect.

Julian P.* demands that the authorities of Aargau remove his gender from the register. P., who actually has a different name, was born with ambiguous sex characteristics and does not identify as female or male. Because it is still not possible in Switzerland in such a case not to give the authorities a gender, P. was registered as a woman after his birth.

The Ministry of Justice has withdrawn the verdict

Julian P. now lives in Berlin, where he applied for a name change four years ago and at the same time had the gender statement ‘female’ removed from the register. This has been possible in Germany for ten years – and not in Switzerland to this day.

Now Julian P. wants Switzerland to recognize the deletion of the gender entry and that he is neither a woman nor a man in Switzerland. The Supreme Court of Aargau ruled in 2021 that this is possible. The Federal Ministry of Justice and Police (FDJP) then submitted the case to the Federal Supreme Court.

First person with no official gender

If the court agrees with Julian P., P. would be the first person in Switzerland without an official gender. “The verdict will be groundbreaking,” says Sibel Arslan (42), the Green Councilor, who is committed to the rights of non-binary people.

A little more reserved is Alecs Recher (47) of Transgender Network Switzerland. An accompanying verdict would be “a step in the right direction”. But he makes it clear that the decision would only have a direct impact on people who have a gender entry other than “woman” or “man” abroad and want to have it adopted by Switzerland.

Something is happening in politics

Thomas Geiser (70), emeritus professor of private law at the University of St. Gallen, also emphasizes: “Such a decision would in no way mean that someone living in Switzerland can demand that no gender be entered.”

It is clear, however, that the verdict can get a ball rolling – or give an already rolling stone a push. Because something is happening in Bundesbern. The National Council Legal Commission is asking the Federal Council to investigate how to improve the situation of non-binary persons in Switzerland. Arslan says: “Politicians have now realized that you have to find solutions for these people.”

*Name changed

Source:Blick