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Mexico's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) does not recognize the gender identity of a trans woman in her naturalization certificate.

In a recent ruling, a federal judge declared that an article of the regulations of the Nationality Law and the way the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) applies it is unconstitutional. Furthermore, it violates the human rights of transgender people. The SRE filed an appeal against this ruling, refusing to respect the name and gender of a transgender woman on her naturalization certificate.

In Mexico, a naturalization certificate is an administrative process and document issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) to grant Mexican citizenship to a foreign national. The naturalization certificate has the same legal standing as a birth certificate, a basic identification document that guarantees the fulfillment of rights. 

"I don't want other people to go through the same thing."

Julianna Neuhouser is a trans woman who obtained Mexican citizenship in 2020. However, since then, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has denied her request to amend her naturalization certificate to recognize her gender identity. Throughout the process, she has been treated with insensitivity and subjected to gender misrepresentation by officials at that agency.

“I want to make my case visible because I don’t want other people like me to go through the same thing. It’s been a very tiring process; I’m sad and angry. In general, in Mexico, there isn’t a good path for trans people and the procedures for obtaining identification documents. We are basically at the mercy of the institutions,” Julianna told Presentes .

This ruling only applies to Julianna's case, but she believes it could set a precedent. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) is one of the institutions that has most prominently championed the rights of LGBT+ people, especially during this presidential term, after issuing non-binary passports and recognizing the identity of transgender Mexicans abroad .

The case of Juliana

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs' initial response regarding Julianna's request to have her identity recognized on her naturalization certificate was negative, as she was required to present a birth certificate with her name and gender. At that time, the Ministry stated that the naturalization certificate uses the information contained in the original birth certificate. Therefore, they could not recognize her identity on her naturalization certificate. 

Julianna traveled to her country of origin to obtain a birth certificate reflecting her legally recognized gender identity. This process was handled administratively and did not require a court case. 

Upon returning to Mexico and presenting his corrected birth certificate, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) took three months to respond to his request to rectify his naturalization certificate. And, once again, they denied him recognition of his identity. 

The SRE argued that according to article 35 of the regulations of the Nationality Law, the rectification of naturalization documents requires a court ruling.

“Requiring Julie to obtain a court ruling that proves her gender identity violates her human rights because gender identity cannot be proven. Forcing trans people to go to court is violent. In Julie’s case, it’s impossible because her process in the United States was administrative,” Janet Castillo, Julianna Neuhouser’s lawyer and part of Delirio Cuir , a collective that provides free legal services to LGBT+ people, Presentes

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs refuses to accept that it is acting unconstitutionally.”

Faced with the double refusal, the lawyer filed an amparo lawsuit in which a federal judge ruled in Julianna's favor, stating that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was acting unconstitutionally in applying Article 35 of the Nationality Law regulations by requesting a ruling to guarantee the recognition of gender identity in Julianna's naturalization certificate.

“The judge’s ruling argued that requiring a trial for the rectification of the naturalization certificate violates their human rights, and there are international and national criteria that support this. Furthermore, he declared that rule unconstitutional and ordered the Secretariat not to apply Article 35 of its regulations again to justify its negative response,” the lawyer explains.

Opinion 24/2017 of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR), which obliges States, including Mexico, to recognize gender identity, states that "procedures must be based solely on the free and informed consent of the applicant, without requiring unreasonable requirements such as medical or psychological certifications, trials or police reports."

SRE challenged the court order  

The SRE challenged the judge's ruling, saying that Julianna violates article 35 of the regulations of the Nationality Law, and this time also argued that "it may generate repercussions that endanger national security."

“This response from the Secretariat is not only contrary to human rights. It also generates panic and a presumption of criminality, in which the authority presumes or assumes that a person—in this case, a trans person—wants to use the law to commit an illegal act, and that is not the case; we are talking about human rights,” Castillo emphasizes. 

The next step is to wait for a judge to give a final answer on this case.

“In Mexico, there is a lack of a comprehensive policy with a human rights, gender, equality, and non-discrimination perspective. There is a complete lack of understanding of the realities and contexts of trans and gender-diverse people; all regulations are based on a cisheteronormative view. An example of this is this regulation from the Secretariat, which is not only outdated according to human rights standards but also unconstitutional,” Castillo adds.