Aviva Rubin
Writer
He, She, It -- Does It Really Matter What our Gender is on Passports?
Posted: 05/16/2012 12:43 pm
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/aviva-rubin/passport-gender-policy_b_1518909.htmlPassport Canada is considering policy changes to the gender requirement on passports. This has already happened in Australia where a third gender X (indeterminate) has been added for transgendered people. In the wake of the Australian move, folks have raised a number of concerns from security implications to more hassles at the airport. Aside from the fact we've always done it like this, what's so helpful about identifying gender?
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The bigger issues arise when a person presents differently than his or her gender category. If I'm a "masculine" looking women, or a "feminine" looking man, if I'm androgynous and my sex is ambiguous, I'm still required to check a box -- to pick one or the other. Some people don't identify with their biological gender and want another option. Some people identify completely with their gender category. There are some who are think they don't fit in anywhere.
Regardless, what use is the category in knowing who a person really is? Surely if safety is our primary concern, we can find better ways of identifying travellers than some official's individual judgment that I look, or don't look the way my sex is supposed to.
