The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) was responding after Bulgaria refused to issue one of its nationals with a passport recognising her wish to be defined as a woman.
The court said EU law enabled transgender people to change their status on their ID documents -- and this legislation took precedence over national laws that contradicted it.
“Member state legislation which does not permit the amendment of the gender data of one of its nationals who has exercised his or her right to freedom of movement is contrary to EU law,” it said in a statement.
The complainant, who launched her legal challenge in 2017 in Bulgaria, welcomed the ruling.
“This decision will finally allow me to have a Bulgarian passport that respects what I have always been since I can remember, since my childhood -- a woman.
“I chose to live in Italy a long time ago and this formal step will finally allow me to find a job without being discriminated against,” she said in a statement issued by her lawyer Alexander Schuster.
Dozens of similar cases are currently on hold in Bulgaria as they awaited the EU top court’s decision.
Schuster said the ruling also applied to other EU members, such as Hungary and Slovakia, which also currently refuse to grant transgender people the right to have documents that reflect their identity.
