This Opinion piece was first published by Sphinx Student News* on 16th November 2017.
END PASSPORT DISCRIMINATION: MAKE GENDER X AS ACCEPTED ‘MS’
Posted by Anna Scott | Nov 16, 2017 | Opinion
In the dim and distant days of 1972, the UK government approved the use of ‘Ms’ as a female title on official documents. In a victory for women everywhere (whether they liked it or not), it was no longer necessary for a title to define your marital status. And yet, some 40 years later, the British government still refuses to acknowledge the need for a non-traditional gender option. Is it truly relevant for a person to declare their gender on a passport? Is it acceptable to force someone, someone who doesn’t define themselves as male or female, to make a choice? I would place myself firmly in the ‘no’ camp on this debate.
Although, ten countries currently offer a gender neutral option X on their passports, including India, New Zealand, and Pakistan, the UK is not one of them. There has, however, been a small yet significant development. On 11th November the high court was granted permission to take forward the case of passport policy discrimination against transgender and non-gendered people. About time too.
After 25 years of campaigning for complete recognition of non-gendered identity, the voice of Christie Elan-Cane is finally being heard. Elan-Cane was born female but identified as a man from a young age, and he believes that identity is a fundamental human right. This statement forms the backbone of Elan-Cane’s Non-Gendered campaign for complete social and legal representation. Identity is a right that the majority of people don’t acknowledge: if you have grown up always being represented by those ‘Male’ or ‘Female’ tick boxes, then it is understandable that this is an issue that has never been on your radar. I believe this is precisely why more attention needs to be given to the ‘Non-Gendered’ campaign.
According to the BBC, approximately 660,000 people in the UK are transgender, inter-sex, non-binary or have gender dysphoria. I suspect that the lack of gender options on our passports affects a great many more as well, and this change would help to include the many who may not feel represented in our society. I am not saying that providing option X on a passport would resolve this overnight, but it could be the precedent for further change.
The HM passport office has repeatedly dug its heels on the issue, however. First they claimed the cost would be too great, next that it would affect other legislation, and finally that those with gender X would need extra support at international borders. Sadly these are all valid points: undoubtedly there will be other countries with less accepting attitudes towards those who do not fit their mould. But rather than just allow this discrimination towards the LGBT community to continue, option X could be a chance to show an alternative to countries who are further away from recognising non-gendered people than ourselves.
With persistence 2017 could be a year of change like 1972 was before it. Let's make the right choice to recognise all individuals and respect their preferences.
*Sphinx Student News is no longer a web domain. This is due to a merger all of student media societies at University of Liverpool to form Liverpool Guild Student Media. As existing articles were not transferred to the new platform, the original article is not available online. I am posting older articles on Written By Anna as a means of recording my past work.