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On Tuesday the 28th, Dania Elizabeth Calderón García became the first trans woman to obtain a favorable ruling to rectify her data—name and sex—on her National Identity Document (DNI), without having to undergo genital reassignment surgery, a medical procedure required by judges for trans people in Peru. 

In order for transgender people in Peru to change their first names and sex on their national identity document, they must file a lawsuit against the State, go through the legal process, and obtain a favorable ruling from the judge. 

While thousands of trans Peruvians have managed to change their first names, few have been able to change their sex on their identity document, mainly because the magistrates are guided by the genitals of the plaintiffs and most of them have not undergone a sex reassignment surgery, so their demand is not granted.

The ordeal of transgender people in Peru doesn't end with a favorable court ruling, whether for the rectification of their first names or gender. Because after obtaining it, the National Registry of Identification and Civil Status (RENIEC) comes into play, an entity that appeals favorable court decisions, thus becoming a major obstacle for transgender men and women and the recognition of their identity. This was not the case for Dania. 

"Until the very last minute, I thought RENIEC was going to tell me my ID wasn't ready. I was very scared, but they finally gave it to me, and I'm so happy. Although all these months, since the favorable ruling, I was almost certain that RENIEC was going to put some other obstacle in the way of the process," Dania Calderón told Presentes, as she left the RENIEC office in the Santa Anita district. 

It wasn't political will.

According to what he explains, on December 21, 2020, the Lima East Court notified RENIEC about the ruling in its favor, giving it 5 days to appeal, however, the registry entity did not do so.

“It’s not that RENIEC didn’t appeal because they’re an ally, no. Since it was the Christmas season, they must have missed it somehow and they didn’t. My lawyer and I were counting down the minutes, because they could have filed the appeal until 11:59 p.m. that day, but they didn’t,” says an emotional Dania. 

Thus, they took the necessary steps before the court, which ultimately approved the process. With everything in order, they submitted the file through RENIEC's online document filing system to begin the process of obtaining their new national identity document (DNI). However, they were greatly surprised when, the day after submitting the documents, RENIEC's Deputy Attorney General appealed, not the favorable court ruling, but the resolution that had accepted the lawsuit.

Dania and her lawyer went back to the judge, who determined that the RENIEC Deputy Prosecutor's Office was acting in bad faith, imposed a fine on them and dismissed the appeal, ruling in favor of the plaintiff and ratifying the favorable ruling for the change of sex.

“It’s important to emphasize that this is not the beginning of gender reassignment for trans people. What happened in Dania’s case was due to a deficiency at RENIEC (National Registry of Identification and Civil Status), but not because they believe she should have her ID card modified. That’s why it’s important to continue demanding that they allow us access to our fundamental right to identity,” explains Leyla Huerta, president of the trans organization Féminas Perú, to which Dania belongs.

The appointment for the official delivery of Dania Calderón's national identity document was scheduled for Tuesday, September 28th, but she was not alone; dozens of trans women accompanied her to celebrate this great achievement with her.

It is worth remembering that in 2011, Naamin Timoico was the first trans woman to achieve the change of sex on her ID card, but she was only able to do so after proving to the judge that she had undergone genital reassignment surgery, having to go through humiliation by seeing her naked body in order to grant her the favorable claim.

As is known, the main demand of the Peruvian trans community is the approval of a Gender Identity Law that allows them to rectify their data with a simple administrative process as happens in other countries in the region such as Argentina, Chile, Ecuador and Uruguay.