Eliana Rubashkyn was born on 25 June 1988 and is a Colombian pharmacist and chemist, known for being the first intersex person assigned male at birth legally recognised as a woman with a United Nations mechanism under the international refugee statute.
21 Facts About Eliana Rubashkyn
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Eliana Rubashkyn's case attracted international media and legal attention after her mistreatment following her detention at Hong Kong International Airport because of the incongruence between her gender identity and her passport photo, resulting in several years of statelessness in Hong Kong, and inhumane reclusion into several refuge centers across Yuen Long.
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Eliana Rubashkyn moved to New Zealand as a refugee in 2014, and was granted New Zealand citizenship in 2018.
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In 2023, Eliana Rubashkyn was charged with two counts of assault for throwing tomato juice on anti-trans activists Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull and Tania Suzanne Sturt at a counter-protest to Keen-Minshull's speaking tour.
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In September 2024, Eliana Rubashkyn was convicted and discharged for the assaults, serving no time.
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Eliana Rubashkyn was born in Colombia to a Ukrainian Jewish mother who had moved there in the 1970s.
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Eliana Rubashkyn was born with the intersex condition of partial androgen insensitivity syndrome and was assigned male at birth.
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In 2011, Eliana Rubashkyn obtained her degree in pharmacy and chemistry at the National University of Colombia, and speaks five languages fluently.
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Eliana Rubashkyn identified that being stabbed in Colombia was catalyst for her decision to seek higher education elsewhere.
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Eliana Rubashkyn 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 in several detention and refugee centres because of her ambiguous legal condition.
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Eliana Rubashkyn refused to contact her home embassy to prevent deportation because of the lack of diplomatic assistance they offered, and she became de facto stateless on 30 October 2012.
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Eliana Rubashkyn's case drew international attention, particularly in Southeast Asia and Colombia, where transgender, gender diverse people and intersex people are often persecuted.
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Eliana Rubashkyn's case was noted in New Zealand, a country known for its stance on equality for LGBTI people.
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Eliana Rubashkyn's case was the first in the world in which the gender identity of a person was recognised internationally.
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In 2015, Eliana Rubashkyn's marriage received significant media attention when the NZ Registrar of Marriages asked for Eliana Rubashkyn's dead name, alongside her legal name, to register the marriage.
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In 2019, Eliana Rubashkyn gave evidence as part of the investigation into the murder of Grace Millane, after realising she had served the accused in an Auckland pharmacy.
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Since being resettled in New Zealand, Eliana Rubashkyn has worked as a pharmacist and is involved in a number of advocacy roles.
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Eliana Rubashkyn has advocated for rights of refugees and intersex, transgender, and gender diverse people in New Zealand and globally.
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Eliana Rubashkyn has made contributions to United Nations Development Program and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in her capacity as the co-founder of Rainbow Path Aotearoa New Zealand, a LGBT refugee advocacy charity.
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Eliana Rubashkyn departed to Australia, then the United States, claiming she feared being arrested in New Zealand.
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Supporters of Eliana Rubashkyn raised over $15,000 in the two weeks following the incident to cover her legal costs.