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In a first for the Mauritian judicial system, a transgender woman has applied to the Supreme Court for a ruling requiring the Civil Registry to make the necessary amendments to her birth certificate to reflect her current gender. In a request filed by her lawyer, Me Anshi Pillay Cootthen, she argued that the authorities’ refusal to amend the information was unreasonable and disproportionate, especially when her gender identity had been clearly established through her conduct and medical procedures. She argued that Section 54 of the Citizenship Act 1981 gave the Supreme Court the power to intervene to make the changes so that her constitutional rights would be respected.
This is the first time that the Mauritian justice system has faced such a claim, with the Civil Code being challenged in terms of constitutional rights. The plaintiff was born on July 31, 1991 and registered as male at birth. She stated in her complaint that she had never considered herself a boy growing up. She recalled her painful childhood days of hiding in her mother’s clothes and playing typically female games, which led to her being ridiculed and harassed at school. She said her transition to living a life consistent with her gender identity was not easy.
In 2016, she began hormone treatments to reduce her male features and develop her female features, a key process in her journey to feel more comfortable in her body. In 2020, she underwent breast transplant surgery at the Mueller Clinic, and in 2023, she decided to go a step further and travel to India for sex reassignment surgery to replace her male genitals with functional female organs. At the same time, she underwent thyroid cartilage reduction surgery to improve her facial features. She explains that each step of this physical transformation was a mental and emotional journey, and she consulted psychologists throughout the process to align her body and mind with her female identity.
However, despite the personal and medical transition, the complainant still faced a significant obstacle: official recognition of her gender identity. In 2024, after receiving legal confirmation of her new name, she went to the Civil Registry to change the gender on her birth certificate and ID card. To his disappointment, an official explained to him that changing the gender on official documents requires a court order.
For her, this situation is more than just an administrative formality. She faces difficulties every day due to the discrepancies between her current appearance and the information on official documents. These inconsistencies cause problems in her daily interactions: she often needs to prove that she is the same person as recorded in the documents, which leads to humiliation and discrimination.
She said she had a lot of difficulties finding a job. Indeed, every time she applied for a job as a receptionist, the interviewer found that her official documents did not match her appearance and personality. As a result, his applications were systematically rejected. This year, she wanted to enroll in a course at the Mauritius Polytechnic. Although she was called for an interview, the situation became complicated when she showed up with her official documents.
She said she was a victim of discrimination when the director of the institution told her he had to seek approval from the Ministry of Education because her appearance did not match the information in her official documents, including his birth certificate and his ID card. “In addition to the humiliation, Plaintiff has experienced stress, low self-esteem, extreme loneliness, anxiety, discrimination, and a feeling that her personhood and dignity have been seriously disturbed. Plaintiff alleges that Defendants’ refusal to record her reassigned gender is unfounded, unreasonable, and disproportionate, especially as her name, papers, and surname indicate that she now leads a fulfilling life as a woman.”she wrote in the complaint.
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