Costa Rica’s supreme electoral court has officially made it possible for citizens to change their legal gender and name.
As of 2013, citizens could only their legal name, but not the gender that appeared on documentation. In addition, legal name changes required a specific judicial order, a requirement that has been amended with this new ruling.
According to the court, the name change process will not cost anything and, in addition, gender assigned at birth will no longer show on any legal documentation.
Costa Rica already has anti-discrimination laws around employment, goods, and services and hate speech. And unlike the United States, in Costa Rica men who have sex with men are allowed to donate blood.
This new ruling comes after Costa Rica’s newly elected president, Carlos Alvarado, won his election against an evangelical pastor on a platform of gay rights. Alvarado promised to make same-sex marriage legal in Costa Rica if he were elected, so this ruling is hopefully the start of many more changes to come to Costa Rica.
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