Eliana Rubashkyn
| Eliana Rubashkyn | |
|---|---|
| Born |
June 25, 1988 Bogotá, Colombia |
| Residence | Auckland, New Zealand |
| Occupation | Pharmacist, chemist, polyglot, human rights advocate |
Eliana Rubashkyn (born Luis Alexánder Rubashkyn, 25 June 1988) is a Colombian–born New Zealand resident, known internationally for being the first birth-assigned male to female transwoman legally recognised as a woman under international law without undergoing sex reassignment surgery. She is a pharmacist, chemist, human rights and transgender advocate and blog activist.
Rubashkyn's gender was recognised under the United Nations' 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees. Rubashkyn's case attracted international media and legal attention after her mistreatment following her detaintion at Hong Kong International Airport because of the lack of congruence between her gender identity and her passport photo, resulting in over eight months of statelessness in Hong Kong, moving from one centre of refuge to another.
Rubashkyn was born in Colombia to Ukrainian Jewish parents who had moved there in the 1970s. She was assigned and raised male, with an intersex condition, and named Luis Alexander.
Rubashkyn obtained her degree in pharmacy at the National University of Colombia. She was then granted a scholarship to Taipei Medical University, and started her gender transition in Taiwan. Within a year, hormone replacement therapy changed Rubashkyn's physical appearance dramatically due to her intersex condition, and the Taiwanese immigration authorities required her to update her passport at the closest Colombian consulate before she could begin her second year of master's studies. She travelled to Hong Kong to do so, but when she arrived at Hong Kong International Airport's immigration facility, she was detained for over eight months because her appearance did not match her passport photo.
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