Gender ‘X’ Becomes Option for Transgender People on Australian Passports
- Posted on September 15, 2011 at 5:50pm by
Tiffany Gabbay
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CANBERRA, Australia (The Blaze/AP) — Australian passports will now have three gender options – male, female and indeterminate – under new guidelines to remove discrimination against transgender and intersex people, the government said Thursday.
Intersex people, who are biologically not entirely male or female, will be able to list their gender on passports as “X.”
Transgender people, whose perception of their own sex is at odds with their biology, will be able to pick whether they are male or female if their choice is supported by a doctor’s statement. Transgender people cannot pick “X.”
Previously, gender was a choice of only male or female, and people were not allowed to change their gender on their passport without having had a sex-change operation. The U.S. dropped the surgery prerequisite for transgender people’s passports last year.
Any country that complies with the International Civil Aviation Organization’s specifications for machine-readable passports can choose to introduce a gender “X.”
Australian Sen. Louise Pratt, whose partner was born female and is now identified as a man, said the reform was a major improvement for travelers who face questioning and detention at airports because their appearance does not match their gender status.
“‘X’ is really quite important because there are people who are indeed genetically ambiguous and were probably arbitrarily assigned as one sex or the other at birth,” Pratt said. “It‘s a really important recognition of people’s human rights that if they choose to have their sex as ‘indeterminate,’ that they can.”
Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd said the new guidelines removed discrimination on the grounds of gender identity and sexual orientation.
“This amendment makes life easier and significantly reduces the administrative burden for sex and gender diverse people who want a passport that reflects their gender and physical appearance,” Rudd said in a statement.
Attorney-General Robert McClelland said while the change would affect few Australians, it was important because it would allow them to travel free of discrimination.
Peter Hyndal, who negotiated with the government on the reforms on behalf of the human rights advocacy group A Gender Agenda, said the new guidelines were in line with more flexible approaches to gender issues in passports issued by the United States and Britain.
“It’s amazingly positive,” Hyndal said. “It’s the biggest single piece of law reform related to transgender and intersex issues at a commonwealth level ever in this country – mind-blowing.”
As many as 4 percent of people are affected by an intersex condition, but most never become aware of their minor chromosome abnormalities.
While proponents of the new “X” gender option for Australian passports are touting its benefits, not many have raised concerns over what it could mean for security. Without a set gender, could possible security threats more easily hid their identities?
Time will tell.
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qban
Posted on September 19, 2011 at 11:45amWhere is my post?
Report Post »bfranklin63032
Posted on September 17, 2011 at 12:53pmIf you have a Y chromosome you are male. If you do not have a Y chromosome you are female.
Report Post »Basic genetics and logic.
Tammy_Beth
Posted on September 18, 2011 at 5:29amnot all humans are born XX or XY. Nor does all biology conform to the presence or absence of a Y.
Question: If a person has a Y, but due to another biological condition they appear to be entirely female when clothed (not surgically altered) would you advocate that person be treated in all respects as male?
Shall we do chromosome tests as routinely as we present a photo ID?
Report Post »Git-R-Done
Posted on September 16, 2011 at 10:52pmI empathize with people who have genetic chromosome disorders or being a hermaphrodite or what happened to Travis Reimer.
But having a neutral option for gender selection isn’t necessary.
Report Post »Git-R-Done
Posted on September 16, 2011 at 10:48pmSomeone who was born with genetic chromosome abnormalities is one thing. But if you weren‘t born with genetic chromosome abnormalities or you’re a hermaphrodite, then that‘s when it’s just disgusting.
Report Post »Tammy_Beth
Posted on September 18, 2011 at 5:33amWhy? there are those who would say, for instance, that an obese person is disgusting, or a woman with too much makeup, or someone with an elaborate tattoo, or someone who dated outside their race.
there’s a limit to how much your disgust should affect public policy.
Report Post »qban
Posted on September 19, 2011 at 11:08am@Tammy
Report Post »homosexuality is an illness or a lifestyle. There isn’t any other way to describe what it is. Neither should be treated with preference over other medical conditions or lifestyles. What about mental illness? What about polygamist, or people wanting to marry their pets or favorite cartoon character? Are we going to change our constitution and laws to accomadate every possible combination of lifestyle/illness?
By the way humans have 23 pairs of chromosomes (46 total) the 23rd pair is the sex chromosome. XY in males, XX in females, there isn’t any other possibility for sex. Hope it helps
timarina
Posted on September 16, 2011 at 9:21pmIn the eyes of God, all are loved
Report Post »ComingUnglued
Posted on September 16, 2011 at 8:59amOMG, these people are idiots. How many people really does this effect? Stop trying to make everyone think there are so many people that are gender neutral, and that this is normal. It’s not. We can’t please every group, we should stop trying. Thats when nobody wins.
Report Post »Tammy_Beth
Posted on September 18, 2011 at 5:39amyour argument defeats itself. if we are in fact very few (and we ARE) then that’s all the more reason the “moral majority” have far bigger fish to fry than worrying about us.
Report Post »qban
Posted on September 19, 2011 at 11:15am@tammy
Report Post »I don’t care who you have sex with (animal, human, alien lifeform, etc) it is your business. The problem is when you try to teach my kids at school that it is OK to be boy and girl at the same time, using my tax dollars for funding that crap and bypassing my moral viewpoints.
TxMadMac
Posted on September 16, 2011 at 6:51amPC gone insane !!! These people are nothing more than homosexuals mutilating their bodies ! Their passports should be stamped mentally unstable !!! nuf said .
Report Post »one years food ration like glenn says
Posted on September 16, 2011 at 8:32amHow about when prompted they put M.R ? … Mentally Retarded…
Report Post »N37BU6
Posted on September 16, 2011 at 10:46amUmmm… you do realize that people can be born with male and female reproductive organs, right? “Made” that way by “God”?
Is ignorance really bliss?
Report Post »chipmunk
Posted on September 17, 2011 at 12:28am@N37BUG
Would you mind changing your picture? That eyeball is creeping me out.
Report Post »chipmunk
Posted on September 16, 2011 at 5:19amHey guys (& gals), Cherynn is intelligent & a true conservative. I believe the # of people who have this condition or whatever, is small. No one here would know anything about Cherynn’s procedures etc.. if she hadn’t shared it with you. She just wants to live openly & honestly. She is not asking anyone here to marry or date her, or for anything else but to be left alone. & maybe some acceptance from people she otherwise has so much in common with would be nice. So make your jokes if you must but please don’t post digs at Cherynn!
Cherynn, I hope you don’t let stupid comments bother you! & keep in mind some people are only trying to crack (stupid) jokes.
Report Post »Cherynn
Posted on September 16, 2011 at 1:18pmThank you Chipmunk! I totally understand and NO ONES comments here hurt or bother me in the least. I have lived with being made fun of and kicked my whole life and I have very thick skin. You have to educate people about things they dont know so that is the only goal I have. What someone does with the knowledge is thier choice. I dont expect people to agree with me. All I ask is that people understand that everyone is different and unique. There is no one mold that people are made from. Everyone has a right to be an individual and all of us Americans have the inalienable right to life, liberty and the opportunity for prosperity.
Freedom is an extremely hard concept to grasp. Not only does freedom give you the right to be you. It also gives me the right to be me. Harm no one, live and let live, help those that are less fortunate, and come together as one to defend our way of life and land. Freedom demands that no one is special, instead, we are all equal. It is why I am a veteran, I believe in our way of life and I will always come to the aid of those being deprived of thier rights.
Either all of us are free, or non of us are free. If my freedom can be controlled and limited by a group, then everyones freedom can. Freedom is not selective, its universal.
Report Post »chipmunk
Posted on September 17, 2011 at 12:35am@Cherynn
Amen! & Thanks for your service!
Report Post »Selecao_USSA
Posted on September 15, 2011 at 10:27pmWhen I saw this headline on other sites today, I though to myself, “finally, a country that acknowledges Hideyoshi’s gender on their passports.”
(Note: this is a reference to a character from anime/manga series “Baka and Test.”)
Report Post »FEMALL
Posted on September 15, 2011 at 10:08pmY not LOLA and ALOL? Think about it.
O=Pay’nSnitch*
Report Post »* Due to inflation “dropping a dime” now costs $3
RationalJames
Posted on September 15, 2011 at 7:46pmI think this is an incredible step forward.
Report Post »Van Bones
Posted on September 15, 2011 at 8:31pmYour right. It is a step forward, right off a cliff.
Report Post »RationalJames
Posted on September 16, 2011 at 12:55amNo, a step toward people being comfortable using a passport if they happen to be genderqueer and not having to worry about being treated one way or another based solely on their anatomy. It‘s a step toward equality and acceptance of peoples’ differences.
Report Post »ZJD92
Posted on September 16, 2011 at 10:00amI agree, @RATIONALJAMES. I’m extremely conservative on most issues but some of these people are retarded. Transgender people aren‘t hurting anybody so let them be and give them the respect you’d ask for. I know multiple gay people and a few transgender and all of them are really good, fun people to be around. I saw a headline on here about Michael Moore saying the tea party is sinking the GOP and it’s not, but the hate will.
Report Post »trueblueday
Posted on September 15, 2011 at 7:25pmOh my gosh, you can’t make this stuff up. So, how many people sat around a table discussing what the other “gender option” is? And how long did it take to come up with the term “indeterminate”? I can hear them now… “Let’s see, hmmm, Alien would work, but it’s already taken (i.e., for illegal), what about… Indeterminate?!” LOL
Report Post »one years food ration like glenn says
Posted on September 16, 2011 at 8:36am@RATIONALJAMES.. Spoken like a true bleeding heart liberal..
Report Post »Want our country back
Posted on September 15, 2011 at 7:05pmSorry for this post, but can’t resist:
Woman delivers a baby… the doctor tells her the baby is a hermaphrodite… (male & female sex organs)… woman says, you mean it has a peanut and a brain
Report Post »Nanner-SW
Posted on September 15, 2011 at 7:04pmAnother way to keep it inclusive is to have two catagories ‘Y’ or ‘no Y’ . . . referencing chromosomes of course. Sorry when I saw the X and gender I automatically thought chromosomes, darn biology class.
Report Post »ireport uderide
Posted on September 15, 2011 at 7:00pmLet’s see if I’ve got this right.
Global warming caused by human activity is true even though scientists disagree.
The “Hopeful Monster”, (Punctuated Equilibrium) theory is true even though some scientists disagree.
A transgender person can be considered whatever they choose even though a scientific test done by drawing a sample of blood can unequivocally prove whether the person is a man or a woman.
I guess the votes are in on this one and science loses again.
The term I’m thinking of is “reprobate science”.
Report Post »Cherynn
Posted on September 15, 2011 at 7:07pmExplain people that have XXY chromosones,,,,,,,,,like I have. Or did the endocrinologists repeatedly make mistakes testing me?
Report Post »AvengerK
Posted on September 15, 2011 at 7:39pmWell Cheryn…it appears you say you have Klinefelter’s Syndrome in human males- XXY chromosome.
Report Post »It’s symptoms are hypogonadism and poor fertility. This is treatable from even a cursory reading on the condition. Testosterone treatment appears to be normal for this condition along with psychotherapy.
You on the other hand expect us to acceptthat you had no choice but to give yourself the outward appearance of a female..or facsimile thereof.
Cherynn
Posted on September 15, 2011 at 8:25pmBy golly somebody knows how to use wikipedia!!! My parents and I tried plan “a” for 35 years and life sucked being depressed and suicidal all the time. Plan “b” worked alot better for me, no more depression or thoughts of suicide and the last 15 years have been great. Dont worry either,,,,I paid for all of the treatments and surgury out of my own pocket ($40,000+ so far). The AMA now recomends that surgury be covered by insurance these days and has validated the use of surgury as a proper corrective option. Medical science marches on even though most modern people still cling to thier neanderthal beliefs.
Report Post »Walkabout
Posted on September 16, 2011 at 2:29amWhy do people have XXY chromosomes? Easy, because no process is perfect (the cells malfunctioned).
I believe a lot of gender disphoria comes from intense competition to be the alpha male or alpha female. It starts early on.
Look at chimps & baboons. The babies inherit their social rank from the mothers. Much the same process happens in humans. So you are not athletic enough or whatever. Okay I try and see if I can make it on the other side easier. Sex Change. Looser society all the way around.
Report Post »Tammy_Beth
Posted on September 19, 2011 at 2:49amyour “simple blood test” is well and good if you were trying to diagnose a persons physical gender, but of course we are not. What is at issue here is the brain. I am not suffering from some delusion that my chromosomes are really XX and no one noticed. Rather, I have a condition which causes intense mental anguish because they are not. Sure, it would be nice if one could take a pill that would rewire the brain to correct that defect, but you can’t. Short of that, I can either transition, live in anguish while forsaking treatment (which is not a course you would counsel anyone else to choose) or eat a bullet.
Report Post »The latter is made much less tempting by the knowledge of how many narrow-minded judgmental bigots would like nothing better than to see it happen.
qban
Posted on September 19, 2011 at 11:57amGlobal warming caused by human activity is true even though scientists disagree
Report Post »You are absolutely right. Lets see, in 1900 the world was about 1.6 billion people, this year we will be 7 billions. The human body generate 250 btu/hr(when sleeping, higher when working, up to a 2400 btu/hr) .So, do the numbers, human generate every hour 1750 billion btu/hr. That is a lot of heat. in fact in the 1900 human only generated 450 billion btu/hr, thats 1350 btu/hr more. WOW!! That is a lot of heat. My A/C in 5 ton or about 60000 btu/hr.
what are you going to do? Kill half the population or send valium to China so their 1.3 billiong sleep all the time. Just having fun with numbers.Cheers
mjcolo
Posted on September 15, 2011 at 6:36pmThis sure gives new meaning to the term “down under”.
Report Post »AvengerK
Posted on September 15, 2011 at 7:54pmThis is why this whole “LGBT”..choose your own gender thing is ridiculous. Apparently Senator Pratt’s “partner” is a female that had a sex change operation and wants to now believe she’s a man. Does Pratt say she’s a lesbian? Does Pratt’s “partner” say she’s heterosexual? Do they both say they‘re heterosexual or do they both say they’re homosexual? And then if they’re homosexual..why the need to have the fabricated appearance of a man? Pratt’s partner will always be genetically a woman..no matter how much treatment she has. It’s a mess.
Report Post »one years food ration like glenn says
Posted on September 16, 2011 at 8:46am@CHERYNN.. Hey why don’t you try to get your post surgery money back retroactively ? Obamacare coming soon and my be able to help you out with that.. Might help you out with all the new make up and beauty supplies you will be needing to cover up that manly horse voice I’m sure you still have.. Tell me, did they remove the adams apple too ?
Report Post »chipmunk
Posted on September 17, 2011 at 12:52am@1 YRS FOOD RATION
I didn’t really catch your post until just now. I don’t like to drag out an issue, but I can not let this one slide. You must love GB & be a fiscal conservative, so we would have lots in common & I’d consider you a bud. But your post here makes you sound like a piece of s*** BULLY. No one likes a bully, so don’t be one. And just a reminder that Cherynn is also a conservative & understands like we do the folly of universal healthcare & obamacare. So grow up.
Report Post »Dug2Dark
Posted on September 15, 2011 at 6:16pmThat’s strange, I saw bho’s real birth certificate & on it the gender was marked X.
Report Post »broker0101
Posted on September 15, 2011 at 6:12pmThey can go F themselves. Can’t they?
Report Post »Dug2Dark
Posted on September 15, 2011 at 6:38pmYou know what they say: X marks the spot.
Report Post »TH30PH1LUS
Posted on September 15, 2011 at 6:12pmOkay, so it’s not clear here from the article – are these X category people androgenous (having the reproductive organs of BOTH)? OR is this some other condition?
Report Post »AvengerK
Posted on September 15, 2011 at 6:20pmThey seem to be stating the genuine physiological condition of hermaphrodism (usually corrected early in a child’s years) but they also appear to include sex change patients and cross dressers as well. It’s quite hysterical.
Report Post »Tammy_Beth
Posted on September 19, 2011 at 4:46amhow is it not clear – it specifically says it’s for intersex people and transgender people CANNOT list themselves under X.
“Intersex people, who are biologically not entirely male or female, will be able to list their gender on passports as “X.”
Transgender people, whose perception of their own sex is at odds with their biology, will be able to pick whether they are male or female if their choice is supported by a doctor’s statement. Transgender people cannot pick “X.””
what’s unclear about that?
Report Post »ares338
Posted on September 15, 2011 at 6:10pmHas this whole world started spinning backwards? Maybe they should put Gender “?” on the passport.
Report Post »YepImaConservative
Posted on September 15, 2011 at 6:00pmWell, I guess now Chris Matthews has an option.
Report Post »YepImaConservative
Posted on September 15, 2011 at 6:03pmMaybe after Obama is defeated in 2012 he will take up residence in Australia
Report Post »TH30PH1LUS
Posted on September 15, 2011 at 6:10pmI lol’d
Report Post »12 gauge
Posted on September 15, 2011 at 6:37pmand Big Sis
Report Post »