A ruling by the Superior Court of Justice of Andalusia (TSJA) has led to adapting the registration in the Central Registry of Foreigners beyond the binary gender expressions “man” or “woman” and including a third box called “indefinite”, according to eldiario.es has advanced and has been able to confirm La Vanguardia from the Ministry of the Interior.
Ministerial sources have recalled that this application will only be available to those migrants who have a non-binary identity recognized in their countries of origin. The “indeterminate” gender will appear on the NIE cards, but not on the DNI of non-binary Spanish citizens, since in no case does the Civil Registry allow it.
This application comes after the judicial victory of Andrea Speck, a person of German origin, who is now officially of “indefinite” gender in the Central Immigration Registry after the TSJA ruling that came to the fore last May. Speck, who has lived in our country for more than a decade, is the first migrant recognized as non-binary by a Spanish court. And, furthermore, it means breaking with the binarism in public administration that until now only contemplated the options ‘man’ or ‘woman’.
Andrea Speck’s court battle goes back a long way. In his German passport it was already listed as undefined sex and, when he tried to register in the Immigration Registry, he came across two options with which he did not identify. Therefore, in 2018 she decided to start the judicial process that ended with this favorable ruling by the TSJA. A ruling that not only agrees, but has forced the General Directorate of Migration to modify the official forms and documentation of foreigners in Spain so that there is a non-binary gender option.
The trans law, approved in February 2023, sought to recognize the reality of non-binary people and contained a specific provision to “omit, at the request of the interested person, the mention of sex in official documents.” However, Equality had to give up on the documentation and forms being adapted to this diversity after the tough negotiations between the PSOE and the ministry led by Montero.
According to the study on the needs and demands of non-binary people in Spain by the Ministry of Equality, 60% consider that two of the main battles of the group in Spain are “reconsidering the sex registration models” and addressing their recognition.
