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ABSTRACT
In April 2015, the Italian Court of Cassation decided on the case of a male to female transgender person to remain married to her wife. On that occasion the Court of Cassation decided that the married couple—Bernaroli, a transgender woman, and her wife, a cisgender woman—could remain married until the Italian Parliament institutionalized civil partnerships. This article presents the case study of transgender persons’ rights in Italy. In doing so, the article places the case study in the frame of the Council of Europe recognition of transgender persons’ rights, looks at the evolution of transgender persons’ rights in Italy, and finally, presents the groundbreaking decision in the Bernaroli's case.
Notes
1. The eight countries are Albania, Andorra, Cyprus, Kosovo, Liechtenstein, Macedonia, Monaco, and San Marino.
2. In Sentenza 221/2015, the Constitutional Court decided that Law 164/82, Article 1, is not unconstitutional, by contrast with articles 2 (protection of fundamental human rights), 3 (equality before the law), 32 (right to health), and 117(1) (constraints deriving from European Union law and international obligations) of the Italian Constitution. Article 117(1) has to be read in conjunction with Article 8 (right to respect for private and family life) of the European Convention on Human Rights.
3. In December 2014 the Finnish Parliament passed a bill on same sex marriages, which will take effect in March 2017. However, transgender persons are still required to divorce their spouses when seeking legal recognition of their experienced gender status.