Brazil’s Armed Forces banned from dismissing members for being trans
The Brazilian Superior Court of Justice ruled Wednesday (Nov. 12) that the Armed Forces cannot dismiss military personnel solely because they are transgender or undergoing gender transition.
The decision standardizes the court’s understanding of the matter and binds all lower courts – which are now required to follow it in any future proceedings.
“Being transgender or undergoing gender transition does not, in itself, constitute disability or illness for the purposes of military service,” said Judge Teodoro da Silva Santos, rapporteur for the matter.
Any compulsory retirement or exclusion based on gender change is also prohibited.
The ruling also determines that all internal records and communications must be updated to use the chosen names of transgender military personnel.
The court accepted the arguments of the Federal Public Defender’s Office, which represented military personnel from Rio de Janeiro who were forced to take medical leave for being trans. One of them was even compulsorily retired, according to the lawsuit.
The group had already won in the second instance at federal level, but the federal government appealed to the Superior Court of Justice on behalf of the Armed Forces, arguing that entry into the military ranks requires clear and permanent gender conditions.
The Superior Court of Justice dismissed the argument, stating that, by final decision, entry into a position intended for the opposite sex cannot serve as justification for dismissals of any kind.
