In European societies,
Roman law, post-classical
canon law, and later
common law, referred to a person's sex as male, female or
hermaphrodite, with legal rights as male or female depending on the characteristics that appeared most dominant. Under Roman law, a hermaphrodite had to be classed as either male or female. The 12th-century
Decretum Gratiani states that "Whether an hermaphrodite may witness a testament, depends on which sex prevails". The foundation of common law, the 16th century
Institutes of the Lawes of England, described how a hermaphrodite could inherit "either as male or female, according to that kind of sexe which doth prevaile." Legal cases where legal sex was placed in doubt
have been described over the centuries. In 1930,
Lili Elbe received
sexual reassignment surgery and an
ovary transplant and changed her legal gender to female. A few weeks after Elbe had her final surgery in 1931 including
uterus transplant and
vaginoplasty, immune rejection of the transplanted uterus caused her death. In 1931,
Dora Richter underwent removal of the penis and vaginoplasty. In May 1933, the
Institute for Sexual Research was attacked by
Nazis, losing any surviving records about Richter.
Toni Ebel and her partner
Charlotte Charlaque, who were both other German sexual reassignment surgery recipients, were forced to separate in 1942 after harassment from their neighbors. After
World War II,
transgender issues received public attention again. Legislation in the 1950s and 60s primarily focused on criminalizing homosexuality and enforcing heteronormative gender roles, leading to disproportionate police harassment and arrests of gender non-conforming individuals.
Christine Jorgensen was unable to marry a man because her
birth certificate listed her as male. Some transgender people changed their birth certificates, but the validity of these documents was challenged. In the
United Kingdom,
Sir Ewan Forbes' case recognized the process of legal gender change. However, legal gender change was not recognized in
Corbett v Corbett. The
1969 Stonewall Uprising marked a pivotal moment in the
gay rights movement, sparking protests and marches globally and underscoring ongoing
discrimination and
violence against LGBT individuals. Today, many jurisdictions allow transgender individuals to change their legal gender, but some jurisdictions require
sterilization, childlessness or an unmarried status for legal gender change. In some cases,
gender-affirming surgery is a requirement for legal recognition. == See also ==