Man legally changes gender to female to get custody of daughters amid outrage

The man said he doesn’t identify as a woman and his legal gender change has nothing to do with his sexuality. (Representational)

A man in Ecuador legally changed his gender from male to female in a bid to win custody rights of his two daughters drawing flak from transgender and LGBTQ activist groups.

47-year-old René Salinas Ramos told local media that although he doesn’t identify as a woman and the move has nothing to do with his sexuality, Ecuadorian laws prefer mothers over fathers when it comes to the custody of children.

“The laws say that the one who has the right is the woman. As of this moment, I am female. Now I’m also a mom, that’s how I consider myself,” Ramos told local media after he legally changed his gender.

“I am very sure of my sexuality. What I have sought is that I want to be a mother, so that I can also give the love and protection of a mother,” he added.

Claiming that his daughters are living in an abusive environment with their mother, Ramos said he had not seen them for five months.

“Being a father in this country, Ecuador, is punished and I’m only seen as a provider,” he said.

LGBTQ activists have condemned the move saying that this stands against the very fabric of the law that was created to protect trans rights.

They also think although Ramos’ desperate move was for his children; it won’t help his case except the publicity he has received.

“This man’s private matter, to obtain custody of his daughters, isn’t the spirit of the law,” Diane Rodríguez, one of Ecuador’s most prominent trans activists and the country’s first trans Assembly person from 2018 to 2021.

The Ecuadorian Federation of Organizations LGBTI released a statement denouncing the change on Tuesday.

After the backlash, Ramos told news portals that his decision “is not against a person, not to harm anyone, but rather to fight against this system that has stigmatized the fact of being born a man,” Vice reported.