Discrimination from required use of gender binary options on online forms
Mousse are challenging the use of online forms requiring people to indicate whether they consider themselves to be ‘Mr’ or ‘Ms’, which allow public and private bodies to collect data relating to people’s gender identity, even though this data is most often useless for providing the good or service, may be objectively and/or subjectively inaccurate and may give rise to situations of discrimination.
Against this background, in 2021 Mousse, together with 64 individual claimants, brought proceedings against SNCF, the French rail transport company, before the French personal data authority, then before the French Conseil d’Etat, and finally before the Court of Justice of the European Union by way of a preliminary ruling. This procedure resulted in a decision by the CJEU on 9 January 2025 upholding Mousse’s request to prohibit the forced collection of data relating to gender identity by SNCF when purchasing a train ticket.
Discrimination from required use of gender binary options on online forms
Organisation Name
Association Mousse
Country/Jurisdiction
France
Grant Amount
EUR 28,248
Current Status
Ongoing
Image credit: RDNE Stock project on Pexels
Grant type
Litigation Track Support
Description
Mousse are challenging the use of online forms requiring people to indicate whether they consider themselves to be ‘Mr’ or ‘Ms’, which allow public and private bodies to collect data relating to people’s gender identity, even though this data is most often useless for providing the good or service, may be objectively and/or subjectively inaccurate and may give rise to situations of discrimination.
Against this background, in 2021 Mousse, together with 64 individual claimants, brought proceedings against SNCF, the French rail transport company, before the French personal data authority, then before the French Conseil d’Etat, and finally before the Court of Justice of the European Union by way of a preliminary ruling. This procedure resulted in a decision by the CJEU on 9 January 2025 upholding Mousse’s request to prohibit the forced collection of data relating to gender identity by SNCF when purchasing a train ticket.
At the same time, on 13 March 2025, the CJEU handed down a ruling against Hungary in which it applied the GDPR to the civil registry, thereby requiring a change of gender in the civil registry on the basis of the principle of accuracy.
Mousse’s plan now is to apply the minimisation and the accuracy principles to the main French public and private bodies illegally collecting data relating to gender identity, by launching 8 strategic lawsuits.
"the use of online forms...allow public and private bodies to collect data relating to people's gender identity, even though this data is most often useless for providing the good or service"
Strategic Goals
The introduction of inclusive forms will mean that non-binary and intersex people will no longer feel rejected on a daily basis when carrying out these tasks. It will also raise awareness of gender diversity, making the public more tolerant of people whose gender does not conform to dominant norms.
The binary gender distinction in law is the cornerstone of the system of discrimination against sexual and gender minorities. If this legal binarity no longer exists, then a very significant body of legal discrimination disappears. Once it becomes possible to marry regardless of gender, anyone should be able to marry anyone else, leading therefore to the legalisation of same-sex marriage in the European Union. Similarly, gender neutralisation would allow equal access to MAP for lesbians and equal access to adoption for homosexuals and transgender people.