Eliana Rubashkyn (; ), (born 25 June 1988) is a New Zealand pharmacist and chemist, known for being the first

intersex Intersex people are individuals born with any of several sex characteristics including chromosome patterns, gonads, or genitals that, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, "do not fit typical bina ...

person assigned male at birth legally recognised as a

woman A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardl ...

with a UN mechanism under the international refugee statute. Born in Colombia, Rubashkyn was formerly stateless. They currently work as a programme officer at

ILGA Ilga or ILGA may refer to: * Ilga (river), a river in Russia, tributary of the Lena * International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association, or ILGA * Illinois General Assembly, in the United States * Ilga, a Latvian feminine given ...

world, and as a harm reduction

scientist A scientist is a person who conducts Scientific method, scientific research to advance knowledge in an Branches of science, area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, ...

developing human right campaigns of support addressed to

LGBTI Intersex people are born with sex characteristics (such as genitals, gonads, and chromosome patterns) that "do not fit the typical definitions for male or female bodies". They are substantially more likely to identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, ...

asylum seekers, refugees and

persons around the world. Rubashkyn's

gender Gender is the range of characteristics pertaining to femininity and masculinity and differentiating between them. Depending on the context, this may include sex-based social structures (i.e. gender roles) and gender identity. Most cultures u ...

was recognised under the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

' 1951

Convention relating to the Status of Refugees The Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, also known as the 1951 Refugee Convention or the Geneva Convention of 28 July 1951, is a United Nations multilateral treaty that defines who a refugee is, and sets out the rights of individual ...

. Rubashkyn's case attracted international media and legal attention after their mistreatment following their detention at

Hong Kong International Airport Hong Kong International Airport is Hong Kong's main airport, built on reclaimed land on the island of Chek Lap Kok, Hong Kong. The airport is also referred to as Chek Lap Kok International Airport or ''Chek Lap Kok Airport'', to distinguish ...

because of the lack of congruence between their

gender identity Gender identity is the personal sense of one's own gender. Gender identity can correlate with a person's assigned sex or can differ from it. In most individuals, the various biological determinants of sex are congruent, and consistent with the i ...

and their passport photo, resulting in several years of

statelessness In international law, a stateless person is someone who is "not considered as a national by any state under the operation of its law". Some stateless people are also refugees. However, not all refugees are stateless, and many people who are st ...

in Hong Kong, and inhumane reclusion into several refuge centers across Yuen Long.

Personal life

Rubashkyn was born in

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

to a

Ukrainian Jewish The history of the Jews in Ukraine dates back over a thousand years; Jewish communities have existed in the territory of Ukraine from the time of the Kievan Rus' (late 9th to mid-13th century). Some of the most important Jewish religious and ...

mother who had moved there in the 1970s. They were

assigned male at birth Sex assignment (sometimes known as gender assignment) is the discernment of an infant's sex at or before birth. A relative, midwife, nurse or physician inspects the external genitalia when the baby is delivered and, in more than 99.95% of birt ...

but born with an

condition known as

Partial Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome Partial androgen insensitivity syndrome (PAIS) is a condition that results in the partial inability of the Eukaryote#Animal cell, cell to respond to androgens. It is an X linked recessive condition. The partial unresponsiveness of the cell to the ...

. In 2011 Rubashkyn obtained their degree in

pharmacy Pharmacy is the science and practice of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, reviewing and monitoring medications, aiming to ensure the safe, effective, and affordable use of medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it links heal ...

and

chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

at the

National University of Colombia The National University of Colombia () is a national public research university in Colombia, with general campuses in Bogotá, Medellín, Manizales and Palmira, and satellite campuses in Leticia, San Andrés, Arauca, Tumaco, and La Paz, Ces ...

., after studying

molecular biology Molecular biology is the branch of biology that seeks to understand the molecular basis of biological activity in and between cells, including biomolecular synthesis, modification, mechanisms, and interactions. The study of chemical and physi ...

in the

University of Granada The University of Granada ( es, Universidad de Granada, UGR) is a public university located in the city of Granada, Spain, and founded in 1531 by Emperor Charles V. With more than 60,000 students, it is the fourth largest university in Spain. Apar ...

they were granted a scholarship to develop postgraduate studies in

public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the det ...

at the

Taipei Medical University Taipei Medical University (TMU; ) in Taiwan is located in Taipei's Xinyi District. Founded as Taipei Medical College in 1960, it was renamed as Taipei Medical University in 2000. TMU has expanded into a world class university with ten colleges, ...

, and started at the same time their gender transition in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

. Within a year,

hormone replacement therapy Hormone replacement therapy (HRT), also known as menopausal hormone therapy or postmenopausal hormone therapy, is a form of hormone therapy used to treat symptoms associated with female menopause. These symptoms can include hot flashes, vaginal ...

changed Rubashkyn's physical appearance dramatically due to their intersex condition, and the Taiwanese immigration authorities required them to update their passport at the closest Colombian consulate before they could begin their second year of master's studies. They travelled to

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

to do so, but when they arrived at Hong Kong International Airport's immigration facility, they were detained for over eight months in several detention and refugee centres because of their ambiguous legal condition. suffering from abusive mistreatment and constant

sexual abuse Sexual abuse or sex abuse, also referred to as molestation, is abusive sexual behavior by one person upon another. It is often perpetrated using force or by taking advantage of another. Molestation often refers to an instance of sexual assa ...

and harassment in several of the reclusion centres they lived. They were also restrained in a psychiatric ward of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in

Kowloon Kowloon () is an urban area in Hong Kong comprising the Kowloon Peninsula and New Kowloon. With a population of 2,019,533 and a population density of in 2006, it is the most populous area in Hong Kong, compared with Hong Kong Island and t ...

, caused by an attempted suicide, after being constantly mistreated and sexually abused. Unable to seek asylum to be granted protection as a refugee in Hong Kong due to the government not having ratified the UN Refugee Convention, they faced deportation, and suffered severe mistreatment in the airport's detention centre. Rubashkyn currently lives in

Auckland, New Zealand Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

, where they were eventually granted asylum as a refugee. Rubashkyn learned many languages fluently in the refugee centers they lived during 2012, 2013 and 2014. They remained stateless until 3 April 2018, when they were granted with

New Zealand citizenship New Zealand nationality law details the conditions by which a person holds New Zealand nationality. The primary law governing nationality requirements is the Citizenship Act 1977, which came into force on 1 January 1978. Regulations apply to t ...

based on their exceptional circumstances

Statelessness

In 2013, the UN sought another country to resettle Eliana because of the lack of protections for

people and refugees in Hong Kong. They refused to contact their home embassy to prevent deportation because of the lack of diplomatic assistance they offered and Eliana became '' stateless de facto'' from 30 October 2012. Eliana's position as a refugee limited the contact they could have with authorities from the governments of

Marriage

On 2 June 2015, Rubashkyn was married in New Zealand to a

Yemenite Jewish Yemenite Jews or Yemeni Jews or Teimanim (from ''Yehudei Teman''; ar, اليهود اليمنيون) are those Jews who live, or once lived, in Yemen, and their descendants maintaining their customs. Between June 1949 and September 1950, the ...

man named Itamar. The NZ Registrar of Marriages caused some controversy in relation to the solemnisation of their marriage when, in addition to their present legal name, they asked for their

dead name Deadnaming is the act of referring to a transgender or non-binary person by a name they used prior to transitioning, such as their birth name. Deadnaming may be unintentional, or a deliberate attempt to deny, mock or invalidate a person's gend ...

to register the marriage.

International response

With the help of

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...

and the

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, local integrati ...

(UNHCR), they were granted

refugee A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution.

status. However, because Hong Kong is not a signatory of the 1951 refugee convention, it did not recognise them as a refugee and sought to deport them to Colombia. Their case drew international attention, particularly in

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

and Colombia, where transgender, gender diverse people and intersex people are often persecuted. Their case was also noted in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, a country known for its stance on equality for LGBTI people. On 16 December 2013, the UN offered a solution by recognising Rubashkyn as a woman under the UNHCR refugee system. They became the first gender diverse person recognised as a woman in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

or Hong Kong without having undergone a

sex reassignment surgery Gender-affirming surgery (GAS) is a surgical procedure, or series of procedures, that alters a transgender or transsexual person's physical appearance and sexual characteristics to resemble those associated with their identified gender, and alle ...

or medical intervention. In May 2014, New Zealand accepted Rubashkyn as a refugee and granted them asylum, extending a universal recognition of their gender. Their case was the first in the world in which the gender identity of a person was recognised internationally. A

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the M ...

story about their struggle and a short documentary about their life in Hong Kong won a

GLAAD Media Award The GLAAD Media Award is an accolade bestowed by GLAAD to recognize and honor various branches of the media for their outstanding representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community and the issues that affect their live ...

in May 2015.

New Zealand citizenship

After six years of statelessness in April 2018, the government of New Zealand on behalf of the Ministry of Internal Affairs granted the

based on their exceptional and unique circumstances.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rubashkyn, Eliana 1988 births Living people Colombian Jews Colombian LGBT people Transgender women Intersex rights in New Zealand Intersex women Intersex rights activists New Zealand activists New Zealand women activists New Zealand feminists New Zealand people of Russian-Jewish descent New Zealand people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent New Zealand women chemists New Zealand women scientists New Zealand Jews Stateless people New Zealand LGBT people People from Auckland People from Bogotá People with acquired New Zealand citizenship Refugees in New Zealand Intersex_non-binary_people Non-binary activists New Zealand LGBT rights activists Human rights activists Women civil rights activists