He 6 April 2026 the Constitutional Court of Ecuador, after almost six years of knowing about the case, issued ruling 1313-19-JP/26. In it, it recognizes Amada's right to gender identity and orders the Civil Registry to modify her name and sex in accordance with her self-perceived identity..
Amada was the first trans girl in Ecuador to judicially claim the guarantee of this right at only nine years of age.. Hoy, con 17 years and living abroad as a result of institutional barriers to the exercise of their identity in their country, This decision comes late but significantly and becomes a precedent in Ecuador for the legal recognition of the gender identity of girls., trans children and adolescents.
The National Directorate of Civil Registry prevented the legal recognition of Amada's identity, arguing the age requirement established by Ecuadorian legislation. Nevertheless, The Constitutional Court has followed the parameters established in ruling 4-24-CN/26—which declared the age requirement for these cases unconstitutional—and has ruled in favor of Amada..
In your decision, The Constitutional Court recognized Amada's persistent desire to modify his registration identity, the support of their parents, and sufficient maturity to make this decision, backed by psychosocial expertise.
From the Network of LGBTI+ litigants of the Americas we celebrate this achievement after long years of legal battles led by our member organization, the Pakta Foundation.
We insist that the legal recognition of the gender identity of children, girls and adolescents, must be based exclusively on free consent, voluntary and informed, without requiring medical or psychological certificates; as stated by the Inter-American Court in its Advisory Opinion 24/17. Therefore, We note with concern that the Constitutional Court decided not to impose transformative reparation measures to guarantee the right to identity and legal status of trans children in Ecuador, regarding Amada's case.
On the other hand, We salute the saving of Judge Raúl Llasag's vote, that in a letter addressed to Amada he apologized for the treatment of his case as an administrative procedure and not as a careful examination of the right to identity. In addition, recognized his fight for equality and dignity, pointing out that Amada's request was fair: live coherently without having to explain your intimate life in each space.
This ruling, together with 4-24-CN/26, constitute important milestones that lay the foundations for constitutional jurisprudence regarding the reaffirmation of the protection of the gender identity of trans adolescents in Ecuador.. They also show progress in compliance with Ecuador's international obligations acquired by being part of the American Convention on Human Rights and, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, according to the standards set by the regional system and the universal human rights system.
We remember that in the thematic hearing on Situation of rights of children and LGBTIQ+ families in Ecuadordor of the 2022, in which the Pakta Foundation presented the case of Amada, The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights pointed out the need to act promptly to ensure that legislation and public policies comply with international standards in favor of the rights of trans children and reaffirmed the duty of States to implement the Advisory Opinion 24/17 of the Inter-American Court.
Besides, the Committee on the Rights of the Child in its examination of the State of Ecuador, in 2025, urged him to recognize and eradicate the structural discrimination and stigmatization suffered by trans children in the country and adopt measures aimed at modifying gender stereotypes in order to prevent and eliminate discrimination in all areas of their lives..
