Confusion, suspicion, uneasy questions: these aresome of the reactions Patrick must endure when asked to present his ID. It's an ordinary situation for most of us that doesn't involve much thought. Not in his case, though: As a transgender man, he appears different on paper than in reality and he needs to explain why, every single time, hundreds of times. Because in Romania, the country he lives in, it's fairly easy to change your name on official documents for different subjective reasons, but it's an ordeal to legally change your gender.
These kinds of situations are far from the only form of discrimination that transgender people face in Romania, aEuropean Union member state since 2007. Just recently, the transgender phenomenon has been officially made into an even bigger taboo for young people. InJune, Romanian lawmakers approved new legislation thatbans gender identity studies from schools and universities. The decision has been followed by protests in Bucharest, where people took to the streets, in order to ask President Klaus Iohannis to refuse to sign the bill. Patrick Braila, a 34-year-old filmmaker and co-president of ACCEPT, the oldest LGBTI organization in Romania, was one of the protesters.
Several big universities and student associations reacted with dismay, saying that the new legislation is an infringement on academic freedom and university autonomy. Outraged by the situation, Oana Baluta, political analyst and professor at the University of Bucharest, says that if the president does not refuse to sign the bill, she and other colleagues "will embrace civil disobedience."
"The law will ban any gender identity education and will also restrict extracurricular trainings and courses on gender identity issues, including those organized by NGOs," Baluta said in a DW interview.
'Gender theories are a Marxist political ideology'
Vasile Cristian Lungu, of the conservative People's Movement Party (PMP), is the MP who proposed the controversial bill. His decision is based on the belief that "gender theories are a Marxist political ideology, very toxic for a child's education,"Lungu told DW. The politician claims he isworried that if children learn about gender identity, boys could use girls' restrooms or take part in sports competitions reserved exclusively for girls. The 40-year-old Lungustudied theology in Romania and then psychology at Loyola University in Chicago, one of the largest Catholic universities in the United States. He claims that gender identity studies have no scientific background and compares them with the flat Earth theory.
Read more:The trans woman who defied her mafia upbringing
There are striking similarities between Lungu's views regarding the LGBTI community and those of two high-ranking EU member statepoliticians. In 2018, neighboring Hungary banned gender studies from universities, as Prime Minister Viktor Orbanconsiders them to be an ideology, not a science. In May, the Hungarian government passed a law which forbids transgender and intersex people fromlegally changingtheir gender. Officially, gender now specifically refers to a person's sex at birth as "biological sex based on primary sex characteristics and chromosomes."
Prejudice is rife in Eastern Europe: Poland's President Duda said the LGBTI movement is "more dangerous than communism"
For Poland's president, Andrzej Duda, who is hoping to win a second term in the next round of elections slated for July 12, the LGBTI rights movement is "more dangerous than communism."
Ignorance instead of reason and science
Communism is, in fact, the very reason why societies in Central and Eastern Europe are, even 30 years after the political change, less tolerant towards minorities, argues Mircea Dragu, a Romanian psychotherapist, in a DW interview: "For those behind the Iron Curtain, the right to be informed, just as the right to travel, was limited for a long time. In this part of the world, nationalism, xenophobia, homophobia fell on fertile ground with the rural population and also other parts of society. People in politics fuel and exploit the fears and limitations of this segment of the population. If we compare the map of corruption with that of poverty and homophobia, we will find that they match."
This is precisely why Patrick Braila became an activist: to show society that LGBTI people are there, "to be seen." Mircea Dragu has had several LGBTI people in therapy and was one of the organizers of the first international conference on homophobia in southeastern Europe. He sees the new law as "a step back to a time when prejudice and other forms of ignorance tend to take up the space reserved for reason and science."
Read more:Germany's Cabinet approves ban on gay, transgender 'conversion therapy'
In May 2019, as a result of decades of studies conducted by scientists internationally, the World Health Organization (WHO) removed the terms "gender identity disorder" from its global manual of diagnoses. "Arguments supporting this attitude (that being transgender is a disease) have been torn down both by science, as well as the evolution of society," says Dragu.
No doctors to help
In Romania, psychotherapy might, in fact, be among the few safe spaces where transgender people can get professional help. Patrick Braila started hormone replacement therapy at the age of 28, with no medical supervision. "We buy hormones off the black market because we cannot find them in pharmacies. There are no more than three or four endocrinologists in the whole country who would see us." Patrick is lucky, though, to have had a supporting family during the transition process.
Psychotherapist Dragu confirms that this minority is marginalized and emotionally abused. Sometimes physically, too. As co-president of ACCEPT, Patrick is in touch with several LGBTI people and has mixed feelings as to where Romanian society currently stands in terms of acceptance.
Psychotherapists like Mircea Dragu are among the only doctors who help transgender people
On the one hand, he says, "I learned about two trans teens being beaten up and thrown out of their homes by their parents." On the other hand, he is somewhat optimisticwhen looking at turnout for the latest Pride parade: 10,000 last year, in comparison to only 800 people in 2014.
'Forced to undergo surgery'
Still, Romanian lawmakers are left unimpressed. Neither by the immediate reality of the LGBTI community, nor by the fact that Romania is, with this new law, in violation of its international human rights obligations.
Getting back to the problem of the official change of gender, Patrick explains: "If we want to change our ID, we have to go to court, have a lawyer, bring evidence, witnesses and most often are forced to undergo surgery just to have our name and gender marker changed on a piece of paper." Comparatively, it takes up to 90 days and the usual paperwork for an individual to get only their name changed on an ID.
Patrick is currently preparing to present his case in court, in order to get an official gender change. "But I'm going to do it differently," he says proudly. "I will be my own attorney, won't bring any medical proof, will make everything public and then produce a documentary about it."
View post:
When the ID shows a different picture than reality: Being transgender in Romania - DW (English)
- Bio Identical Hormone replacement therapy "alternative medicine" OMT - June 1st, 2010 [June 1st, 2010]
- Healthbeat - Hormone Replacement Therapy - August 5th, 2010 [August 5th, 2010]
- Does Hormone Replacement Therapy increase breast cancer risks? - August 11th, 2010 [August 11th, 2010]
- Hormone replacement therapy increases risk of cancer - October 20th, 2010 [October 20th, 2010]
- Hormone Replacement Therapy Risky For Women - October 20th, 2010 [October 20th, 2010]
- Can Hormone Replacement Therapy Lead To Breast Cancer? - January 31st, 2011 [January 31st, 2011]
- Women Turning To Holistic Hormone Replacement Therapy - February 18th, 2011 [February 18th, 2011]
- Is Hormone Replacement Therapy Dangerous? - March 17th, 2011 [March 17th, 2011]
- Hormone Replacement Therapy Complications - May 8th, 2011 [May 8th, 2011]
- Hormone Replacement Therapy - May 10th, 2011 [May 10th, 2011]
- The New Growth Hormone Replacement Therapy - John Crisler, DO - May 13th, 2011 [May 13th, 2011]
- Suzanne Somers on hormone therapy for menopause, part 2 of 6 - May 20th, 2011 [May 20th, 2011]
- Symptoms of Menopause (Menopause #2) - May 20th, 2011 [May 20th, 2011]
- How to Relieve Menopause Symptoms : Hormonal Replacement Therapy for Menopause - May 20th, 2011 [May 20th, 2011]
- HRT - Hormone Replacement Therapy - May 20th, 2011 [May 20th, 2011]
- What is hormone replacement therapy? - May 20th, 2011 [May 20th, 2011]
- Hormone Replacement Therapy and Breast Cancer - May 20th, 2011 [May 20th, 2011]
- Natural Treatments Instead of Hormone Replacement Therapy - May 20th, 2011 [May 20th, 2011]
- Suzanne Somers on hormone therapy for menopause, part 1 of 6 - May 23rd, 2011 [May 23rd, 2011]
- Hormone Replacement Therapy for post-menopausal women - June 19th, 2011 [June 19th, 2011]
- Joe Rogan talking about hormone replacement therapy 6-14-2011 - June 25th, 2011 [June 25th, 2011]
- Hormone Replacement Therapy and Weight - June 25th, 2011 [June 25th, 2011]
- HRC Hormone Replacement Therapy - June 25th, 2011 [June 25th, 2011]
- Study Hormone Replacement Therapy Increases Breast Cancer Risk - kdka.com - June 25th, 2011 [June 25th, 2011]
- 020 - Neo Hormones - July 1st, 2011 [July 1st, 2011]
- Making Sense of Hormone Replacement Therapy - July 28th, 2011 [July 28th, 2011]
- HRT MTF Transition Report Week 10 - July 29th, 2011 [July 29th, 2011]
- Hormone Replacement - Part 2 - July 30th, 2011 [July 30th, 2011]
- Hormone Replacement - Part 1 - July 30th, 2011 [July 30th, 2011]
- Goldie Lookin Chain - HRT - August 9th, 2011 [August 9th, 2011]
- Natural Hormone Replacement Therapy - September 23rd, 2011 [September 23rd, 2011]
- Testosterone Replacement Therapy (TRT): Optimizing Clinical Outcomes - Michael Aziz, MD - September 24th, 2011 [September 24th, 2011]
- Thyroid Replacement Therapy - Ronald Rothenberg, MD - September 24th, 2011 [September 24th, 2011]
- Dr. Ralph Turner discusses Hormone Replacement Therapy. - September 24th, 2011 [September 24th, 2011]
- 1 year on HRT - September 24th, 2011 [September 24th, 2011]
- The Wiley Protocol - September 24th, 2011 [September 24th, 2011]
- My Journal with Low Testosterone TRT Replacement Therapy - September 24th, 2011 [September 24th, 2011]
- 12 years of HRT: My Transition in photos - September 24th, 2011 [September 24th, 2011]
- Dr. Steven Jepson talks about Bio-identical Hormone Replacment Therapy - September 25th, 2011 [September 25th, 2011]
- Estradiol Valerate Injection HRT (Part 3)of(3) - September 25th, 2011 [September 25th, 2011]
- Study: Post-Menopausal Hormone Therapy Increases Cancer Risk - September 25th, 2011 [September 25th, 2011]
- Bio-identical Hormone Replacement (anti-aging) Therapy - Westchase, Tampa, Florida - September 25th, 2011 [September 25th, 2011]
- natural hormone replacement - September 28th, 2011 [September 28th, 2011]
- 6 Month Hormone Effects (before and after) - September 28th, 2011 [September 28th, 2011]
- Jeff Life, MD - Cenegenics, Hormone Replacement Therapy - September 29th, 2011 [September 29th, 2011]
- Huge - September 30th, 2011 [September 30th, 2011]
- Transsexual hormones,Intramuscular injection, Progynon Depot,Estradiol - October 2nd, 2011 [October 2nd, 2011]
- Dr Whiting on Menopause and the Dangers of HRT - October 12th, 2011 [October 12th, 2011]
- Ahuviya Harel (ADF-Fuensalida) to Start Hormone Replacement Therapy - October 13th, 2011 [October 13th, 2011]
- Clomid Defined - Video - October 14th, 2011 [October 14th, 2011]
- Thyroid Hormone Replacement Therapy - Dr. Denis Rebic - Video - October 14th, 2011 [October 14th, 2011]
- Hormone Replacement Therapy - Video - October 14th, 2011 [October 14th, 2011]
- Dr. Pamela Smith - Bio-Identical Hormone Replacement - Video - October 15th, 2011 [October 15th, 2011]
- Jasper Carrott - Traffic - October 22nd, 2011 [October 22nd, 2011]
- VIDEO: Breast Cancer, Hormone Replacement Therapy Connection - Video - October 24th, 2011 [October 24th, 2011]
- Menopause and Hormone Replacement Therapy with Dr. Sulak - Video - October 24th, 2011 [October 24th, 2011]
- Menopause - October 24th, 2011 [October 24th, 2011]
- bio identical hormone replacement therapy raleigh durcham chaepl hill north carolina - Video - October 24th, 2011 [October 24th, 2011]
- Endocrine Related Hair Loss, Can Hormone Replacement Therapy Help Treat This? Friedman - Video - October 24th, 2011 [October 24th, 2011]
- Dr. Navarro Discusses Bio Identical Hormone Replacement Therapy - Video - October 24th, 2011 [October 24th, 2011]
- Hormone Replacement Therapy by the Book - Eldred Taylor, MD - Video - October 24th, 2011 [October 24th, 2011]
- Sangeeta Pati, MD, FACOG, discusses Hormone Replacement - Video - October 24th, 2011 [October 24th, 2011]
- Active Center's Dr. Gross Discusses Bio-Identical Hormone Replacement Therapy on NEWS 12 NJ - Video - October 28th, 2011 [October 28th, 2011]
- DALLAS ANTI-AGING MEDICINE BIO-IDENTICAL HORMONE THERAPY - Video - October 29th, 2011 [October 29th, 2011]
- Hormone Replacement Therapy and Menopause in Women - Video - November 8th, 2011 [November 8th, 2011]
- Amberen - Natural HRT Alternative Commercial - Video - November 9th, 2011 [November 9th, 2011]
- The Dangers of HRT - Video - November 11th, 2011 [November 11th, 2011]
- The Benefits and Risks of Male Hormone Replacement Therapy - Video - November 16th, 2011 [November 16th, 2011]
- Natural Menopause Treatment - Herbal HRT Alternative - Video - November 23rd, 2011 [November 23rd, 2011]
- Dr. Ian Thorneycroft - Hormone Replacement Therapy - Video - November 24th, 2011 [November 24th, 2011]
- Sarah,MTF Transgender 3months HRT - Video - November 24th, 2011 [November 24th, 2011]
- 26. ftm 1 month on t - Video - November 24th, 2011 [November 24th, 2011]
- Dr. Quint Jardine - Hormone Replacement Therapy with Pellets - Video - November 24th, 2011 [November 24th, 2011]
- 6 Month Changes MTF HRT - Video - November 24th, 2011 [November 24th, 2011]
- Medical Mondays: Will hormone replacement therapy increase my risk of breast cancer? - Video - December 6th, 2011 [December 6th, 2011]
- HRT EXPERIENCES NOT ALL GOOD - Video - December 8th, 2011 [December 8th, 2011]
- Sarah, MTF transgender 9 months HRT - Video - December 9th, 2011 [December 9th, 2011]
- Full: Effect of Testosterone Replacement Therapy on Prostate Tissue in Men with Late-Onset Hypogonadism (Dramatic Health) - Video - December 10th, 2011 [December 10th, 2011]
- Suzanne Somers on hormone therapy for menopause, part 3 of 6 - Video - December 11th, 2011 [December 11th, 2011]
- 1 Year HRT MTF Transition - Video - December 12th, 2011 [December 12th, 2011]