AUSTRALIA RECOGNISES A THIRD SEX BY ALLOWING THE “GENDER NEUTRAL”
The Australian High Court now recognises that a person may be neither male nor female. Questions remain as to the consequences of marital unions, marriage is permitted only between a man and a woman in this country.
The highest court in Australia on Wednesday decided that a person could be recognized by the civil status as “gender neutral” and not just male or gender, making the country one of the few to recognize a third sex. The High Court “recognises that a person can be either male or female, and thus permits the registration of a person as being a kind of” non-specific “,” according to a unanimous opinion of the judges.
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They thus rejected an appeal filed by the State of New South Wales who claimed to be recognized that only the male and female genders.
The decision comes after a legal battle led by Norrie, who did not identify as a man or a woman who demanded the creation of an additional category for “gender neutral”. Norrie, who uses only one name, was born of masculine and underwent surgery to change sex in 1989. But the operation failed to put an end to the ambiguity she feels on her sexual identity.
In 2010, the civil registry in New South Wales (Sydney State) had agreed to register under the “non-gender specific.” But soon after, the register was reversed his decision and declared the certificate invalid. Norrie said then to have the feeling of being “socially assassinated.”
END OF A VISION “backward-looking”
Several appeals were filed in court by the parties, until the final decision on Wednesday, from the High Court of the country. “I’m euphoric,” said the activist. “Maybe people will understand that no two options. You can be a woman or a man, but some of your relatives are not necessarily. ”
For associations Central laws on human rights, the High Court “rejected the backward-looking ideas about gender.” “People who are sex and gender other than male or female face problems every day for access to services readily available to any other,” said Anna Brown, legal expert of the association. “It is essential that our legal system reflects and takes into account the reality of gender diversity and equality in our society. And the High Court has made a big step in that direction today, “she added.
A person may not be recognized by law and marital status as gender neutral by submitting a medical record. The consequences of this decision on matrimonial unions remain to be clarified. Australia recognizes marriage between a man and a woman.
MEN, WOMEN OR “X”
Samuel Rutherford, Group Director militant Australian Gender Agenda, “have the highest court in the country said that the law recognizes the reality of our existence is not only important from a practical point of view. It clears the path towards equality and against discrimination “.
The country had already, in June introduced a new nomenclature for the recognition of gender on official documents, offering the choice between man, woman or trans-genre.
Germany and Nepal allow their citizens to place an X in the “sex” box of the passport. Last November, Germany has made a step further by allowing babies born without being clearly identified as boy or girl to be recorded without indication of sex, a first in Europe.
This is designed to alleviate pressure on parents pressured to decide on controversial emergency surgery, to assign a sex to a newborn. Parents are now allowed to leave blank the box relating to birth certificates, creating an indeterminate class in the civil registers.