Does Breast Size Equal Gender Identity?
Do breasts make you a woman? And if so, must they be a certain, permanent size to qualify as defining your gender? According to a ruling by a public attorney in the French city of Nancy, the answer to both questions is yes. The attorney used this rationale to deny the appeal of Delphine Ravisé-Giard, a transgender woman, to have her gender officially changed from male to female on her civil records.
Ravisé-Giard, a 15-year veteran and current member of the French armed forces, transitioned in 2007. She takes hormone therapy and has had surgery to augment her breasts and to modify her face. For two years, she carried out her military duties and was officially recognized as having transitioned by the French military, which had changed her name and gender status on all of her records, including her ID card and paychecks, to reflect her new identity. In order to make her transition complete and official, she was required to petition the French civil court to grant the change in status.
On August 10, 2009, her request was denied because at that time her transition did not meet the French legal standard. Until March of 2010, French law required transgendered people to undergo surgery or other medical treatment in order to complete gender transition. As a result of that ruling, the French military was legally required to reverse her change in status on all her documents and records, despite its initial acceptance. The Ministry of Justice has since ruled that trans individuals are not required to undergo sex reassignment surgery in order to officially change their gender. That ruling brought France into accord with the guidelines established by the European Commission on Human Rights for the recognition and treatment of transgendered individuals.
Ravisé-Giard appealed the 2009 ruling on her request, but the public attorney has denied her appeal. Despite the change in French law, the attorney stated with regard to her case: "In the absence of documents demonstrating the irreversibility of the process due to plastic surgery and hormone therapy such as, for example, breast implants and aesthetic modification of face, it does not appear that the request of the appellant may be granted." Since, according to this attorney, Ravisé-Giard's physical transformation is not permanent, her gender has not changed. Moreover, the ruling suggests that changes in gender are dependent on factors such as breast size.
The advocacy organization Trans Aide, of which Ravisé-Giard is a member, is incensed by the ruling. In a statement released to the press, a spokesperson for the organization said, "What size breasts are required for a change in civil status? Will that breast size be established nationally by the Minister of Justice or will it be up to the personal tastes of individual attorneys?" The statement continues, "Our association has said that the groundwork for a change in status for transgender people should be, across Europe and in France, those defined in 2009 by the Commissioner for Human Rights, Mr. Thomas Hammarberg, in his recommendations to member countries of the Council of Europe, which stipulate that the change in status should not be subject to a legal obligation to sterilization or any other medical treatment."
Indeed, it looks like the city of Nancy should prepare itself for a battle that could go all the way to the European Court of Human Rights—and rightly so. In reflecting back on his egregious decision, the city attorney might want to remember the official motto of the city he works for: Non inultus premor, the Latin phrase for "Nobody touches me with impunity." This could well be the rallying cry of Ms. Ravisé-Giard and her supporters.
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