Kuwait Court Rules TG Woman Still Male
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff.
Originally published: 12 October 2004.
(Kuwait City) A Kuwait court has ruled that 26 year old woman who underwent sex reassignment surgery is still a man. The decision overturns a lower court ruling that allowed woman, referred to only as Amal in court papers, to receive new identity papers showing her corrected sex.
The lower court based its decision on a religious edict allowing gender change if there are medical reasons for it.
The court had been told that Amal had suffered mental and physical torment since childhood due to hormonal imbalances.
The court was presented by the woman's lawyer with documentation from Sunni Islam's top religious institution, al-Azhar, in Egypt that under certain circumstances people may change their gender if there are proper medical reasons for doing so.
At the time the ruling was seen as a major advancement for the tiny trans community in Kuwait.
Amal's, lawyer said he would appeal today's ruling to a higher court. In the meantime, she is without a job. Her lawyer said she had been fired from her job in the civil service until the official identity records are sorted out.
This story provided by our International News Partners 365gay.com.
