Politics and Governance (ISSN: 2183–2463) 2020, Volume 8, Issue 3, Pages 242–252 DOI: 10.17645/pag.v8i3.2851 Article Trans Laws and Constitutional Rulings in Belgium: The Ambiguous Relations between Sex and Gender Petra Meier 1,* and Joz Motmans 2,3 1 Department of Political Science, University of Antwerp, 2000 Antwerp, Belgium; E-Mail:
[email protected] 2 Transgender Infopunt, Ghent University Hospital, 9000 Ghent, Belgium; E-Mail:
[email protected] 3 Centre for Research on Culture and Gender, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium * Corresponding author Submitted: 30 January 2020 | Accepted: 15 August 2020 | Published: 18 September 2020 Abstract In this article we reflect upon the evolution from the Belgian trans law of 2007 to those of 2017 and beyond, giving adult cit- izens the possibility to have their self-determined gender legally recognised. The 2019 ruling of the Belgian Constitutional Court, condemning the Belgian State for being discriminatory against gender fluid and gender non-binary persons regard- ing their legal gender recognition, requires the Belgian government to either add a third legal option or to abolish gender registration altogether. We analyse the definitions of sex and gender that underlie the two trans laws of 2007 and 2017 and the Constitutional Court ruling of 2019 and then confront them with the experiences of trans people based on a national transgender survey (Motmans, Wyverkens, & Defreyne, 2017). The confrontation between legal texts and lived experiences clearly shows the promises and pitfalls states face when striving for gender recognition procedures. Keywords Belgium; gender; law; recognition; sex; transgender Issue This article is part of the issue “Trans* Politics: Current Challenges and Contestations” edited by Mieke Verloo (Radboud University, The Netherlands) and Anna van der Vleuten (Radboud University, The Netherlands).