My complaint to the passport office and the response I received…

[PassportProblemo]

So, I recently applied for a new UK passport. During the application process, I was asked for my “gender” and given the options “male” and “female”. At no point was I asked my sex. Assuming there was an error, I submitted the following complaint to the passport office:

"Hello,

I recently applied for a new passport as mine is nearing expiry.

As part of the application, I was asked to provide my "gender". The options offered were "female" and "male". As "male" and "female" refer to one's sex, I do not believe that this section is correct in asking for the applicant's gender.

Therefore, may I ask why you are using the term "gender" rather than "sex"? Also, do you plan on ever correcting this to avoid confusion to your customers?

Kind regards,"

During the complaints process, it asked if I would like my response via phone or writing. I requested writing.

Two days later, I received a phone call from the Passport Office… The woman said that the office is just following their internal guidance here, which says that this is what they should do. I asked for her response in writing. She sent me the following email:

“Dear PassportProblemo,

Thank you for your enquiry.

The passport application process is structured in accordance with The Gender Recognition Act 2004 which came into effect on 4 April 2005.

For more information on The Gender Recognition Act 2004 and how it applies to the passport application process please see the below link:

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2004/7/contents

Yours sincerely,”

(I have removed the satisfaction survey link they included in their email)

Right, so what do we do next? How do we challenge their holy “internal guidance”?!?

I agree.

I think there are a small handful of situations where
sex and gender matters but this is not one of them. Nor does it impact on me what sex or gender another person has on their passport.

Ever played Papers Please?

So you got asked if you was a man or waman, now your causing a fuss for nothing.

Presumably the officer would not be alone in a room with some random or suspect?

I think it is quibbling. Just my opinion. Because the UK has to follow what the ISO/IEC standard says. And I don't know what it says, but the people who design the passports do.

I posted a link above to the relevant page of the standards shop above.

Not my lane really. I just know that passports have to be to an international standard, and I posted a link to where one of the parts of that standard can be found. That's all.

I'm not venturing onto the hellsites which are Bluesky and Reddit but I'm guessing the bus has arrived from one of them?

Indeed. We don't exist! It's shocking, traumatising, etc. We are so vulnerable that we should start haranguing everyone at any level, throwing bottles of piss around and threatening to violently rape people who question our validity.

Or something like that.

Sorry, something has just clicked, putting together the assumption that 'trans' generally means wanting to be the opposite sex, and dismissal of Stonewall language/definitions, plus using sex/gender more interchangeably than you might expect, I think I recognise one of these posters so I'm going to bow out - but genuinely hoping minds (in general!) can be open to those who are trying to do their best to work with definitions and how they apply to people who don't seem to fit the norms.

Just to comment on the gay/lesbian point - that's actually a decent analogy, except I don't think it's been applied properly here.

Most people who have reached adulthood know what 'sexual attraction' feels like, and therefore know themselves if they are sexually attracted to men, women, both, whatever. So they can look at the 'label' and the definition of that label to ascertain which they might be (while acknowledging that it's not necessarily fixed).

However, if you've never felt sexual attraction in your entire life, there is also a category for you - aromantic, or asexual, or a similar category.

You're not told:
'if you don't fancy the opposite sex then you're gay' and also
'if you don't fancy the same sex then you're straight'.

You have an option for 'not fancying either sex'. I don't know what the equivalent option is for people without a gender identity who are told if they're not cis they're trans and if they're not trans they're cis.

I hope some of this makes sense.

It still seems odd that the form asks for 'Gender' when the passport itself says 'Sex/Sexe'.

That's the requirements for a change of gender not cross dressing.

My grandmother's generation campaigned for the vote. My mother's generation campaigned for financial equaliy. My generation campaigned for equality in the workplace.
When i read nonsense like this, i think the fight for equality has been won and women are now scrabbling about trying to find things to justify their outrage.
Complete nonsense.

When the Olympic committee let men compete against women because of the marker on their passports, i dont think questioning the logic is utter nonsense.

that why they have always allowed cross dressing men to change the marker to female.

Do you have an official source for that?

that why they have always allowed cross dressing men to change the marker to female.

Do you have an official source for that?

Simply but beautifully put!

Love this, great reply from them.

Email equivalent of an eye roll! 🙄

Any further news on how to change the Sex marker on one's passport from M to F or vice versa without following the steps described under 'Gender change' here?
https://www.gov.uk/changing-passport-information/gender

For instance, for cross dressing men?

And to reiterate, the marker appears under the heading 'Sex/Sexe', not 'Gender'.

Newsflash. Some use "gender" as a synonym for your sex. Is it worth getting worked up about?

It then shows up on your passport as "Sex" so they must be thinking the same thing.

This is so sensible!

The Passport Office's reply says

"The passport application process is structured in accordance with The Gender Recognition Act 2004 which came into effect on 4 April 2005.

For more information on The Gender Recognition Act 2004 and how it applies to the passport application process please see the below link:"

I have searched the Act linked to on legislation.gov and there is no mention of 'passport' or 'passports' in it.

So what are they on about?

Perhaps, @PassportProblemo, you could write back and ask the Passport Office staff if they could kindly give the details of the section/s or subsection/s of the GRA that deal with passport applications.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/699ebeb9db2401de164d6cab/Gender_recognition_v29.0__clean_for_gov.uk_.pdf

Page 14.

I think - once again - your sticking point here seems to comes back to your recurring assumption that someone else needs to come along and tell you if you're trans or cis. It feels at this point like you want me to try and prescribe an identity to you so you can then tell me off for being wrong about it and this will somehow "prove" that therefore all trans identities are invalid.

Believe me, everyone is thoroughly aware you exist.

Here we go with the compelled speech again.