Trans activist loses f ight for ‘no gender’ passport
PEOPLE who declare they are gender-neutral will not be able to have passports stating this, after a landmark ruling yesterday.
The Court of Appeal found that campaigner Christie ElanCane had no right to a passport marked with an X to identify a non-gendered status.
It means passports will continue to be marked only with an M for male or an F for female.
The 62-year-old, who uses the title Mx, was born a woman but had breast and womb removal surgery in the 1980s.
In the course of a career as a ‘non-gendered campaigner’, ElanCane has argued for an end to ‘inherently discriminatory’ passport rules. The Passport Office allows people to choose their sex regardless of whether they have legally altered their gender but says passports must be issued to males or females.
The court ruled the claim for non-gendered passports was not justified by human rights laws.
Delivering the ruling, Lady Justice King said: ‘The court finds there was no obligation on the state to provide an X marker in order to ensure the right of the appellant to respect for private life. Therefore, the current policy of Her Majesty’s Passport Office does not amount to an unlawful breach of the appellant’s private life rights.’
She added: ‘The court finds the X marker is just one part of a bigger picture that requires a coherent structured approach across all areas where the issue of nonbinary gender arises, particularly given the discussions as to whether there should be any gender boxes on passports, or other official documents, at all.’
She also acknowledged that ‘there is momentum in relation to how the status of non-binary people is to be recognised and the time may come when the fair balance has shifted’.
Elan-Cane spoke of being devastated ‘for everyone that needs an X passport’ and vowed that their legal team would take the claim to the Supreme Court. ‘The problem is we have a very Right-wing backward Government that are opposed to the issues,’ they said. ‘They’re quite transphobic as well. They’ve got it in for nongendered people.’
Gender-neutral passports have been available to Canadians since last year. Australia, New Zealand, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark and India issue passports with third gender identities.