The Importance of Legal Gender in the Case of Transgenderism

Gender is usually determined at birth based on a person’s physiological and biological characteristics. However, in the case of transgenderism, the legalization of the possibility of changing gender identity becomes much more complicated. Legal gender can be acquired not only at birth, but also in shaping one’s social role. Therefore, this article presents an analysis of the need for the concept of legal gender in the case of transgenderism. Substantiating such a need, the author analyzes the procedure of gender registration and gender reassignment registration. The cases of Lithuanian courts in which the complaints of the applicants show the importance of the legal recognition of their gender reassignment are reviewed. The relevance of legal gender in the case of transgender people is based on the fact that only after the gender of the civil status records has been changed can a person exercise the rights and obligations related to their gender identity. Legal gender can therefore be defined as the gender recognized and controlled by the state, which may be different from the biological gender (in the case of transgenderism)