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Two young transgender citizens of the United Arab Emirates are making an unprecedented case to be recognized as men, their lawyer said on Thursday.
State newspaper al-Bayan reported on their lawsuit, a rarity in the conservative society where LGBT issues are barely aired in public.
The plaintiffs, identified by their initials as H.S., aged 26, and A.M., 28, have asked an Abu Dhabi court to have their genders and names changed on state records, al-Bayan reported, after they underwent hormone therapy and gender reassignment surgery in Europe.
H.S. said that with the gender reassignment, a struggle to achieve a true identity had been won but another, to gain acceptance from society, was grinding on.
"My feeling that I'm a man started when I was three years old," H.S. said, adding that after female puberty signs did not appear she began hormone treatment and found support in a sympathetic teacher. Encouraged, H.S. saved up to complete gender reassignment surgery in three 12-hour phases in Europe.
"Now I feel great psychological comfort, and my internal conflict has disappeared because my physical appearance comports with my mind. I'm still awaiting a ruling in the case to complete the change of my name and sex on official documents."
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