Not allowed to change his age

The Guardian reports:

A Dutch court has rejected the request of a self-styled “positivity guru” to shave 20 years off his age, in a case that drew worldwide attention.

Last month Emile Ratelband asked the court in Arnhem to formally change his date of birth to make him 49. He said his official age did not reflect his emotional state and it was causing him to struggle to find work and love.

He claimed he did not feel 69 and said his request was consistent with other forms of personal transformation gaining acceptance around the world, such as the right to change name or gender.

In a written ruling on Monday, the court said Dutch law assigned rights and obligations based on age “such as the right to vote and the duty to attend school. If Mr Ratelband’s request was allowed, those age requirements would become meaningless.”

That is an interesting rationale for turning him down.

Because you see we also have some laws which differentiate on gender. Common assault is a maximum one year sentence while a male assaulting a female is a maximum two year sentence. So does allowing people to change gender make these laws meaningless?