'Sex-free' passports for transgenders
The Home Office is considering changing British passports to allow transgender people to opt out of identifying themselves as male or female.
By Martin Evans
8:25AM BST 19 Sep 2011
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/8772963/Sex-free-passports-for-transgenders.html (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/8772963/Sex-free-passports-for-transgenders.html)
The proposed moves follows pressure from the Liberal Democrats who claim it is necessary to avoid problems encountered by people who are undergoing sex change operations.
Currently everybody with a passport must identify themselves as male or female on the document.
But the Home Office has begun a consultation on changing the system to allow a category for the small minority of people who are unable to tick either box.
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Gender-free UK passports mooted
By Wesley Johnson
Monday, 19 September 2011
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/genderfree-uk-passports-mooted-2357118.html (http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/genderfree-uk-passports-mooted-2357118.html)
...because gods forbid we should actually not have gender flags on our ID documentation at all ::).
Quote from: Padma on September 19, 2011, 06:24:24 AM
...because gods forbid we should actually not have gender flags on our ID documentation at all ::).
Exactly. God forbid it get's like Indonesia with Gender, Marital Status and Religion specified too!
Part of me wants to apply and give them a really hard time in interview.
I've just read an update on this, and they are, in fact, proposing having the gender flag on passports as "optional" rather than insisting on M-F-X. This is a very sensible idea. For people who want or need documentary support for their gender (including some trans people travelling abroad) there is the option to show it, and for people who don't want it on there, there is also that option.
Let's hope this actually happens, without getting watered down to something more pointless.