“My documents don’t know who I am”:

right and access to registry rectification of name and gender for trans people in practice, the Brazilian case

Abstract

https://doi.org/10.1590/2179-8966/2024/77011i

Given the importance of opening the doors of the law, it is necessary to investigate the legal materiality of life, starting with a fundamental question: do rights reach their holders? What can prevent legal norms from breaking this barrier? This study, therefore, aims to analyze, in the Brazilian context, how access to the right of registry rectification of name and gender for transgender people happens. We start from the hypothesis that, despite the advances implemented by Protocol nº 73/2018 from the National Council of Justice, access to rectification may still contain some problems. To analyze this situation and scrutinize this defined research problem, we follow the historical path of recognition of the right to registry rectification for trans people: from the Public Registries Law (Law nº 6.015/1973) until we arrive at Protocol nº 73 from the National Council of Justice, which represents a milestone for the recognition and access to registry rectification. To evaluate the effectiveness of this access, we include in our analysis some interviews with regional and national trans activists to ascertain the real changes implemented by Protocol nº 73 and what problems may have been incorporated since then. Thus, the methodology used includes both legal and jurisprudential analysis of relevant documents, as well as qualitative research through interviews with trans people who work as activists for trans rights.

Keywords: Trans rights; Name and sex/gender rectification; Recognition of rights; Access to and guarantee of rights