Let ‘X’ be an option for ID
Society is finally coming to understand that defining gender isn’t simply a matter of choosing between male or female. Other options abound. But they have not been reflected in government forms or identification cards, which have long required people to check either “M” or “F”.
Gender fluid or “non-binary” individuals convincingly criticize this limited choice as neither accurate nor fair. Several jurisdictions, including Ontario, have begun offering a third option — that of marking an “X” for gender or sex.
Ottawa, however, has been slow to respond, especially in the matter of passports. Federal bureaucrats have spent more than a year pondering whether they should offer gender-neutral identity documents. It’s time they quit dithering and gave transgender Canadians, and other members of the LGBT community, a third option.
Marking an “X” for gender is allowed by the International Civil Aviation Organization, an agency of the United Nations that sets passport standards worldwide. And seven countries already give travellers that choice.
It’s provided in Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan. Canada should follow suit.
Existing rules could be readily changed, according to Marcella Daye, acting manager of policy at the Canadian Human Rights Commission. As reported by The Canadian Press, she said the federal government could easily switch to issuing gender-neutral passports and other documents.
Ontario has been a leader in this area, with the province starting to issue health cards last month that no longer show a person’s sex. And it will begin offering an “X” option for drivers’ licences next year.
These are welcome initiatives, making government ID cards more reflective of gender diversity. Some in the LGBT community, however, would like to go further and want gender references removed entirely from official databases and identity documents.
As reported by the Star’s Jessica Botelho-Urbanski, some activists argue that gender is an unnecessary label. A person’s sex designation has nothing to do with driving a car, for example, so there should be no need for any mention of it on a driver’s licence.
There’s a problem with this view. A driver’s licence also functions as a basic identification document throughout North America. And gender — whether it’s marked by an “F”, an “M” or an “X” — remains a fundamental aspect of identity. That’s why it would be best if passports also included this range of designations.
A further complication to removing gender references from official databases and documents is that such records can be used to measure provision of services to communities and the treatment of at-risk groups. Sex-based discrimination in housing, jobs, government programs and other endeavours would be difficult (if not impossible) to assess if gender categories were erased.
Canada went through a similar debate decades ago when collecting race-based statistics was frowned upon in policing, children’s aid and other areas. It’s now recognized that identifying vulnerable communities in a database is a key first step in checking for discrimination.
It would be a shame if well-intentioned LGBT activists who are seeking freedom from labels that don’t fully suit them helped to produce a system that ignores sex references altogether. Dropping gender citations from official lists and databases won’t stop bigotry, while keeping such references intact is a way to track — and therefore attack — discrimination.