Alessandra Bernaroli’s marriage to her wife of nine years was annulled following her gender transition as the local marriage registry would not recognize a same sex marriage.
“My body may have changed, but the love between us remains the same. I’m acting to defend our marriage.
“I fell in love with her nearly 20 years ago when I was a man and we love each other as much as the first day we met, despite the fact that after a long journey and many operations I became a woman. Why should the state now try to separate us?” Bernaroli said.
However, on Tuesday the Constitutional Court ruled that the dissolving of the marriage was unconstitutional. The court reportedly stated that it aimed to balance ““the State’s interest in not changing the model of heterosexual marriage…and the interest of the couple where one of the two components changes sex”.
The court suggested in its ruling that the government should consider “an alternative form” of marriage. Legal experts have speculated that this ruling may set a precedent to allow civil unions in Italy.
