O registro civil e o direito à identidade da pessoa intersexual

Abstract

Among the various sociocultural classifications of identity, sexual phenotype is one of the first identification and individualization marks of a person. The binary division between male and female exposes, beyond the division between the two possible biological extremes, a cultural notion that only those two possibilities exist, and that they are intrinsically linked to the categories man and woman. However, medical sciences already proved the existence of intersexuality, which is the presence of both male and female characters in only one individual. In Brazil, medical guidelines for intersexuality treatment revolve around designating a binary sex to the person. Such treatment, which can even imply sexual designation surgery, is done to adequate the individual into one of the two culturally recognized categories of presentation, accommodating the person to their sociocultural context. In reality, intersexual people face, as result, problems that compromise the exercise of their personal rights upon diagnosis, especially regarding their right to identity. The Civil Registry is the first document that individualizes the person, granting them with legal recognition of their existence. The Law of Public Registry demands that the Civil Registry must contain the information of the person’s sex. Upon such demand and the medical guidelines in practice, intersexual people suffer with the demand to officially and, many times, physically fit into male or female bodies, because the law lacks proper recognition and protection for those people. Through an exploratory and deductive methodology, the present article aims to demonstrate the aforementioned legal gap, one that must not prosper in face of the several scientific studies that recognize the existence of intersexuality and intersexual people.