In 2007 Mr. Ravisé-Giard, a long-serving member of the French Air Force, transitioned into Delphine Ravisé-Giard and began living as a transwoman. Though the French military promptly changed her documentation to reflect her female identity, a French civil court soon told her she needed to have a full sex change to be legally considered female. Luckily, their ruling got overturned by the Ministry of Justice, but now Delphine’s facing yet another hurdle: a local chief prosecutor who says she needs bigger tits for the French legal system to consider her a real woman.



Luckily, Delphine’s worked for many years with Trans Aide, a French group that offers legal and political assistance transgender individuals. They’re now pressuring the local courts to put France in line with the European Commission on Human Rights’ recognition of transgendered individuals. Namely, that one needn’t have surgery to be considered a woman.

It’s likely that France will eventually come around to its senses, but until it does, Delphine has some smart takes on the absurdity of her shituation:

“Of course, if the state applied the same test to cis [non-trans] women, it would have to redefine the gender of many French women. But of course, this would never happen.” She added: “What size breasts are required for a change in civil status? Will that breast size be established nationally by the Minister of Justice or will it be up to the personal tastes of individual attorneys?”

By their estimate, small-breasted women like English actress Keira Knightley wouldn’t pass for a woman, making it apparent that the French legal system is not only trans-phobic and classist but also misogynist and completely objectifying. Just like America!