Non Binary passport appeal on Mon

[Imnobody4]

Hadn't heard anything about this. Fingers crossed it goes the right way.

12th July an important appeal will be heard at the Supreme Court. A claimant called Mx Elan-Cane claims a non-binary identity and wants an X on their passport instead of Female. Elan-Cane argues this is a breach of their human rights. The UK government claims any such breach is justified because retaining the sex binary is important.

fairplayforwomen.com/non-binary-the-new-wolf-in-sheeps-clothing/

We also would not want 15 year old children securing a note from their doctor that they are more mature than their DOB suggests and should be considered to have been born four years previous than as recorded.

Not to put too fine a point on it, it's highly implausible DWP would accept a declared rather than actual chronological age for the 2 child limit for various benefits.

I am very concerned about passports and the vulnerability of girls to child marriage - I am apprehensive that this would be facilitated by being able to NB the passport rather than retain the sex class marker.

I am very concerned about passports and the vulnerability of girls to child marriage - I am apprehensive that this would be facilitated by being able to NB the passport rather than retain the sex class marker.

Good point. This is just the kind of thing that isn't immediately obvious when thinking about putting an X on a passport - which on the surface seems like a relatively minor change.

I worry about all the unforeseen consequences further down the road which we can't predict yet, but we come to regret.

Girls and women who travel on passports which deny their sex will, in many situations, be exposed to risk and/or denied the protections acorded by having an accurate female sex marker especially in places where they do not speak the language.

I expressed my concerns about modifiable birth certificates and passports as gateway documents to both being counted and human rights at some length in the 2018 consultation.

The US knows that it has a problem with girls and women in some communities who aren't registered and are denied education, social security numbers and many basic rights. I can not anticipate any scenario in which the alleged introduction of greater lack of accurate records would help them. And it certainly doesn't help girls and women in other countries, nor can it bolster child protection.

theconversation.com/a-birth-certificate-is-a-human-right-why-arent-they-free-and-easier-to-get-146834

www.unicef.org/stories/what-birth-registration-and-why-does-it-matter

catholicmoraltheology.com/a-birth-certificate-is-a-human-right/

You don’t need an X on your passport to form a Pet Shop Boys tribute band Christie, you can do it anyway. It’ll probably bring you more happiness I think.

Statement by legal representatives,

"Clifford Chance and Blackstone Chambers, acting pro bono on behalf of Christie Elan-Cane, launched judicial review proceedings in 2017 challenging the lawfulness of the UK Government's passport policy."
www.cliffordchance.com/news/news/2021/07/clifford-chance-acts-in-judicial-review-proceedings-related-to-x.html

Elan-Cane's Live Journal,
"Christie Elan-Cane has campaigned for almost 30 years to achieve legal and social recognition as a person of non-gendered identity;
Christie has engaged with politicians of all mainstream parties and worked with various government departments to raise awareness of the issues surrounding non-gendered identity;
Christie approached Clifford Chance LLP and subsequently brought legal proceedings against the UK Home Office in order that its passport policy should be subject to judicial review after the political process was exhausted and had failed;
Christie is not seeking special treatment however does seek to be treated fairly;
Christie would not accept an ‘X’ Passport without an overall policy change on their issuance in the UK"

Quotes:
Christie Elan-Cane: "Legitimate identity is a fundamental human right but non-gendered people are treated as though we have no rights. The UK Government refuses to acknowledge our existence as its systems and bureaucracy render us socially invisible. The case for ‘X’ Passports will now be heard before the UK Supreme Court where I hope finally to get justice.”

Eraldo d’Atri, Senior Associate at Clifford Chance: "This case raises important questions regarding the right to respect for individuals' identity, specifically for those who identify as neither or not exclusively male or female. Access to X passports is crucial for the protection of the human rights of this demographic, who are otherwise forced to use a passport which misrepresents their identity. The significance of this case is further highlighted by the recent announcement in the US by the Secretary of State that a third non gender specific option on US passports would be available. Clifford Chance is proud to be working with Christie and Blackstone Chambers to argue this case before the Supreme Court."
elancane.livejournal.com/

Legitimate identity is a fundamental human right

Is it? Really?

The right to a British passport is conditional,

"When you can get or hold a British passport
You must have British nationality to apply for or hold a British passport.

Having British nationality does not guarantee you a passport. For example, you may not get a new passport (or your existing passport may be taken from you) if:

you’re suspected of a serious crime and an arrest warrant has been issued
a court order stops you having a UK passport or restricts your travel
you’re on bail and bail conditions mean you cannot leave the UK
you’ve been brought back to the UK before at the government’s expense and have not repaid what you owe
you’ve received a European Union or United Nations order which restricts your travel
A passport can also be cancelled or not renewed if it’s for a child and there’s a court order in place stopping the child from leaving the UK.

Your eligibility and entitlement to a British passport will be considered when you apply.

Passports belong to the government and can be cancelled or withdrawn at any time."
www.gov.uk/british-passport-eligibility

Legitimate identity is a fundamental human right but non-gendered people are treated as though we have no rights.

As a fellow non-gendered person, I don't seem to be lacking any rights. Having to put my sex on my passport is not causing me any hardship, and I don't see why lack of gender is relevant to my sex identification. As anyone who listens to Stonewall or Mermaids should know, you can have any gender you like, or none, regardless of sex, so gender is not really relevant here. It's possible that the claimant is a little out of touch with current gender theory.

(It is of course also possible that "non-sexed people" is what is meant there, but that would be laughably stupid.)

If my identity is a human right, can I have a pet passport?

Sex is not a value judgement, FFS. It's just a basic fact.

Its worth being aware of the findings of this successful case against the UK government which led to the GRA 20004 and are relevant as specific to the recognition of sex,

CASE OF CHRISTINE GOODWIN v. THE UNITED KINGDOM
(Application no. 28957/95)

JUDGMENT
STRASBOURG

11 July 2002
www.bailii.org/eu/cases/ECHR/2002/588.html

(extract)
THE FACTS

I. THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE
12. The applicant is a United Kingdom citizen born in 1937 and is a post-operative male to female transsexual.

13. The applicant had a tendency to dress as a woman from early childhood and underwent aversion therapy in 1963-64. In the mid-1960s, she was diagnosed as a transsexual. Though she married a woman and they had four children, her conviction was that her “brain sex” did not fit her body. From that time until 1984 she dressed as a man for work but as a woman in her free time. In January 1985, the applicant began treatment in earnest, attending appointments once every three months at the Gender Identity Clinic at the Charing Cross Hospital, which included regular consultations with a psychiatrist as well as on occasion a psychologist. She was prescribed hormone therapy, began attending grooming classes and voice training. Since this time, she has lived fully as a woman. In October 1986, she underwent surgery to shorten her vocal chords. In August 1987, she was accepted on the waiting list for gender re-assignment surgery. In 1990, she underwent gender re-assignment surgery at a National Health Service hospital. Her treatment and surgery was provided for and paid for by the National Health Service.

14. The applicant divorced from her former wife on a date unspecified but continued to enjoy the love and support of her children.

15. The applicant claims that between 1990 and 1992 she was sexually harassed by colleagues at work. She attempted to pursue a case of sexual harassment in the Industrial Tribunal but claimed that she was unsuccessful because she was considered in law to be a man. She did not challenge this decision by appealing to the Employment Appeal Tribunal. The applicant was subsequently dismissed from her employment for reasons connected with her health, but alleges that the real reason was that she was a transsexual." (continues)

Ask a silly question but why do we need our sex on our passports? Ditto title why? I'm a person, it has my legal name recorded, not sure why I needed to distinguish other facts???

Need seems pretty marginal to me. You could certainly debate whether it needs to be there.

Glib answer from the UK's point of view would be "because international agreements require it". What I've not been following is what exactly they require - presumably there aren't any international rules for how you choose "F", "M" or "X", or we wouldn't be debating this locally?

Another possible answer would be "as proof of legal sex, for situations where it matters". Except they let you falsify it even without GRC, as I understand it.

It would be nice to discuss it universally, rather than trying to get the typical non-binary "I need to be able to put X because I'm not like everyone else" dispensation.

Maybe the UK could decide to put "X" in everyone's passport?

A UK passport doesn't have your title on it. Just your surname and given name(s). And your sex.

I'd have little issue with an argument that there is no need for sex to be recorded on a passport, but that's not what this case is about.

If a person has an "X" on their passport, and this is recognised as their sex (not their gender) doesn't that then exclude them from single sex spaces?

A third space would therefore be required which could be used by all those who don't identify as their birth sex.

It's an interesting thought @JamMakingWannaBe but a non-binary person would still have a birth certificate with their sex on it which they could use to validate any request to access single sex services/spaces.

If a UK citizen is arrested, held by police, searched by border guards or hospitalised overseas then sex as recorded on their passport is potentially very significant. That there are two sexes, female and male is a universally accepted reality.

non-binary person would still have a birth certificate with their sex on it which they could use to validate any request to access single sex services/spaces.

If passports were to be redesigned like this, I very much doubt that birth certificates won't come under pressure as another move in this multi-dimensional Dentonesque chess.

If passports were to be redesigned like this, I very much doubt that birth certificates won't come under pressure as another move in this multi-dimensional Dentonesque chess.

This has already started in some states and countries where sexless/ 'non-binary' birth certificates are issued.

So what else can we exclude from passports?

• I don’t like my middle name. It’s embarrassing and in the lingo of ‘the yoof’, triggering.
• I don’t like being 50. Also triggering.
• I used to) get daft comments on my PoB and DH gets racially profiled as a result of his PoB (‘random’ additional security checks my arse - if it was random why is it every single time?). Effing annoying.

My photo sucks - in facts it’s not me (they used the photo of some random troll). Puzzling...

@EmbarrassingAdmissions

non-binary person would still have a birth certificate with their sex on it which they could use to validate any request to access single sex services/spaces.

If passports were to be redesigned like this, I very much doubt that birth certificates won't come under pressure as another move in this multi-dimensional Dentonesque chess.

... so make it possible for people to self identify their sex as "x" on their birth certificate (say from age 18). That document can then be used to apply for a passport as an "x".

TW who feel/believe they are not men, but as we know cannot become women, can identify as "not a man" but women can retain our single sex spaces.

As official documents are changing, Government can monitor the numbers of people identifying as "x", put in service provisions for the number of x's in the UK and "x" can be used in crime statistics etc. "X" could maybe (not thought through the implications) become a protected sex based characteristic.

All people are female or male and sex matters in life and law. Government should not issue inaccurate birth certificates and passports as this is detrimental to its citizens and potentially to those in countries they travel to.

I agree.

Unfortunately we have a fight on our hands from TW who want to self-id as women. Removing this option, but allowing them to self-id as "x", gives them what they want, ie: to not be a man, while still protecting single sex spaces for women and girls.