A cisgender man in Ecuador has changed his gender to female to help him win custody over his daughters who are allegedly being abused.
The Ecuadorian man was forced to change his gender due to his country’s “unfair” policy which he claimed favors the mothers in custody disputes.
The man was identified as 47 year old René Salinas Ramos who alleged that his daughters’ mother is abusing his children.
Ramos also alleged that he hasn’t seen his children in five months.
In a statement Salinas Ramos released during an exclusive interview with local outlet La Voz del Tomebamba, he argued that his “actions are not against anyone in particular, but against the system.”
Ciudadano ecuatoriano cambió su género a femenino para luchar por la custodia de sus hijas. “Mi actuar no es contra nadie en particular, sino contra el sistema”, dijo Rene Salinas, quien renunció a su género masculino en el Registro Civil de Cuenca.
🎥: https://t.co/VjHyzCLGbp 👀 pic.twitter.com/Jg2ZLENYS8— La Voz del Tomebamba (@tomebamba) December 30, 2022
“Being a father in this country, Ecuador, is punished and seen only as a provider,” Ramos continued.
In addition, he also reportedly gave La Voz del Tomebamba his new ID card, which identifies him as a woman.
According to Vice, the Law in Ecuador explicitly states that when no agreement is reached, the mother will receive full custody of the children with limited exceptions.
The report also added that changing one’s gender has been legal in Ecuador since 2015.
Salinas also claimed that he was very sure of his sexuality. However, he had to make this decision to help him win the case.
“Now I am also a mom. That’s how I consider myself. I am very sure of my sexuality. What I have sought is to give the love and protection that a mother can give her children. Now that I am a woman, I can be a mother and I am on equal footing to fight for the parental authority of my daughters,” the father told the local media.
Salinas Ramos also called his gender change, “the great proof of love that he can give to his daughters.”
However, despite Ramos’ objective, his legal gender change from male to female made headlines and surprised but concerned LGBTQ activists who have been fighting to have Ecuadorian laws changed in 2015 to allow the change of gender.
According to Diane Rodríguez, one of Ecuador’s most prominent trans activists and the national director of the Ecuadorian Federation of Organizations LGBTI in an interview with VICE World News, “this man’s private matter, to obtain custody of his daughters, isn’t the spirit of the law.”
Rodríguez became Ecuador’s first trans Assembly person from 2018 to 2021. She has also helped spearhead the law in 2015.
According to her, with her understanding of the law, a judge would certainly not give custody because of a change of gender “because it does not make sense that you have changed your gender in the identity document without being a trans person, only with the objective of taking advantage to obtain custody.”
