the mayor of Thonon-les-Bains refuses to register the first name of a deceased transgender in the cemetery

The lawyer for the family of a deceased transgender woman contacted the Defender of Rights to warn of the refusal of the mayor of Thonon-les-Bains (Haute-Savoie) to register the female name of the deceased in the cemetery, reports Friday, January 28 France Bleu Pays de Savoie. The lawyer also plans to seize the administrative court.

The mayor, Christophe Arminjon, refuses for the moment that the first name of the deceased – Manon – be inscribed on the plaque of the cemetery’s colombarium and justifies himself with legal arguments. According to him, the deceased had not taken the steps to officially change her first name before her death. “As the texts stand, I cannot modify the civil status since the mayor has two obligations: that of identifying the deceased and that of designating the places of burial”, he explains. He proposed that the two first names, male and female, of the deceased be inscribed on the plaque.

The parents refuse this hypothesis because Manon had given up her masculine identity. The family sees a form of transphobia in the mayor’s decision. The parents’ lawyer explains that the law does not require that the official first name be on the plate. “The law only concerns the funeral urn but not the plaque. We come to take refuge behind false legal pretexts to refuse to socially recognize a young transgender woman”, denounces master Magaly Lhotel.

Last October, the prefecture of Haute-Savoie intervened to specify to Christophe Arminjon that he could legally accede to the request of the family. The elected official did not respond to this letter and affirms that only justice can decide.