Historic vote extends EU asylum standards to transgender people
October 27th, 2011
http://www.lgbt-ep.eu/press-releases/historic-vote-extends-eu-asylum-standards-to-transgender-people/Today the European Parliament formally adopted a new set of asylum rules for the European Union. The binding rules now include gender identity as a ground of persecution, which EU Member States must take into account. Governments have already agreed to the changes, which are final.
Until now, EU asylum law foresaw that "gender related aspects might be considered" by national asylum authorities when examining the potential persecution of specific social groups in their country of origin.
The resolution adopted today has replaced this text, and now specifies that "gender related aspects, including gender identity, shall be given due consideration". The text now refers to gender identity specifically, and obliges Member States to consider gender-related aspects. Before, EU countries could still choose not to consider aspects linked to the applicant's gender in asylum claims.
