Bulgaria’s Supreme Court Approves Legal Gender Changes for Four Transgender People

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Sofia: Bulgaria's Supreme Court of Appeal has granted four transgender people the legal right to change their gender markers and names on official civil-status documents, the first such ruling in the country since 2020.

The verdicts by multiple panels of the Court's Civil Chamber followed a major decision by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in March 2026. The EU's highest court found that member states cannot ban persons who have exercised their right to freely reside and travel within the EU from changing gender-related information in official records if such restrictions interfere with their EU rights and private life.

The legal issue proved challenging in Bulgaria. In 2021, the country's Constitutional Court ruled that the term 'sex' in the Constitution solely refers to biological sex. In 2023, Bulgaria's Supreme Court declared that existing national legislation prohibited courts from approving changes to transgender applicants' gender, names, and personal identity numbers.

The CJEU's decision in a case involving a Bulgarian transgender woman living in Italy altered the legal landscape. The court stated that EU legislation protects gender identity and mandates effective mechanisms for correcting gender-related data in civil registries when necessary. It further said that national courts cannot accept interpretations of domestic law that conflict with EU legislation.

The most recent Bulgarian verdicts mark a significant shift in the country's attitude to legal gender recognition, although the topic remains politically and legally controversial.