In its decision n. 66/2024, the Italian Constitutional court established that the legal relationship of a couple in a civil union, in which one member has obtained a sex reassignment in civil registry is not automatically converted into marriage due to the «objective heterogeneity» between these two institutions, while at the same time ensuring that the effects of the civil relationship continue until marriage. The decision allows a new reflection on the normative intersection between sex reassignment and its effects on the civil relationship of the couple. The paper aims to examine how the Constitutional court's judgment may have determined a tentative evolution of Italian legislation, although still anchored in the heterosexual paradigm of marriage.

Keywords: Italian constitutional court; Civil union; Marriage; Sex reassignment; Legal models