Direct Civil Amparo 6/2008, Concerning Declaration of Jurisdiction
Mexico Supreme Court
3/2008-Ps (2008)
- Written by Mary Katherine Cunningham, JD
Facts
A transgender plaintiff was diagnosed with a condition called female pseudo-hermaphroditism. The plaintiff subsequently underwent hormone treatments and received breast-enhancement and sex-reassignment surgeries. After these treatments and surgeries, the plaintiff identified herself with a new name that was different from the name on her birth certificate. The plaintiff therefore sought a revision of her name and sex on her birth certificate in family court. The judge of Mexico’s Federal District family court ordered the certificate corrected to provide the new name and sex and the plaintiff’s transgender status through a note in the margins of the document. However, the court refused the plaintiff’s request for a new birth certificate. The plaintiff appealed the family-court decision to the First Family Chamber of the Superior Court, which upheld the family-court decision. The plaintiff then appealed to the Mexico Supreme Court, arguing that the family-court and appellate-court decisions enforcing Article 138 of the Civil Code for the Federal District were unconstitutional. The plaintiff also argued on appeal that the marginal notation on her birth certificate violated her right to privacy by disclosing her transgender identity whenever someone reviewed her birth certificate. The plaintiff also asserted that Article 138 violated her right to health and personal dignity, placed her at risk of discrimination, and denied her a general state of well-being because the birth certificate’s continued notation of her transgender identity reinforced her gender dysphoria.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Per curiam)
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