Lulu was born Manuel, but has apparently identified as a female for years

Oct 11, 2013 09:46 GMT  ·  By

A court ruling has allowed a transgender 6-year-old boy the right to legally identify as a girl. Officials have agreed to change his formal identification to reflect the female gender.

The now girl, who has been identified as Luana or the shorter Lulu, has received the new ID. She has been the first to benefit from Argentina's Gender Identity Law, passed in January 2012.

The AP informs that Lulu's birth certificate has also been amended to reflect the gender change.

“The government of the province of Buenos Aires has decided to provide a solution to this particular case raised by the family,” Alberto Perez, chief of staff to the Buenos Aires governor, said after the court ruled for Lulu last month.

The piece of legislation states that one can change their gender in legal documentation without approval from a judge or doctor.

“Gender identity is understood as the internal and individual way in which gender is perceived by persons, that can correspond or not to the gender assigned at birth, including the personal experience of the body.

“This can involve modifying bodily appearance or functions through pharmacological, surgical or other means, provided it is freely chosen. It also includes other expressions of gender such as dress, ways of speaking and gestures,” the law reads, as relayed by International Business Times.

The girl's parents campaigned to have the child's name changed from Manuel on the DNI, as well as to have the court allow the gender modification.

“By accepting that my son was not the son I gave birth to, but a girl, I accepted her identity and put myself at her side,” mom Gabriela says.

Gabriela claimed that Manuel started identifying with a female persona since he first started talking.