Is a man who gives birth the mother or father of his child? Should the law recognise more than two legal sexes? Can individuals amend their legal sex solely based on self-identification?   

 

Since the landmark decision of Goodwin v UK in 2002, the European Court of Human Rights has held that countries must provide a basic framework for amending sex under national law. At present, almost all European jurisdictions provide some access to legal gender recognition (LGR) - although how that process operates differs radically across the Council of Europe.  

 

Yet, in the two decades since the Goodwin case, conversations regarding transgender rights in Europe have shifted significantly. While the issues of LGR and equality guarantees remain important, new questions are also emerging. These range from the (im)practical limits of the gender binary to the accommodation of childhood gender transitions, and from calls for gender self-identification to the legal position of transgender families. 

 

This paper will explore the new frontiers in the relationship between law and gender in Europe. Drawing upon doctrinal, as well as socio-legal, analyses, the paper will introduce key debates animating transgender rights in 2021, and it will ask how (and whether) substantive reforms can be achieved within existing legal structures.