Australian court agrees, we’re not all male or female
A landmark ruling won by an Australian gender trailblazer which finds
that sex does not just mean male or female could have broader
implications as society becomes more accepting of diversity, experts
say.
Norrie, who does not identify as either male or female, last month
won a bid to have a new gender category on the register of births,
deaths and marriages in New South Wales, Australia’s most populous
state.
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Norrie, who uses only a first name and
does not identify as either male or female, poses for a
photograph in Redfern near Sydney. Australian trailblazer
Norrie, has won a landmark ruling which finds that sex does
not just mean male or female, which could have broader
implications as society becomes more accepting of diversity,
experts say. AFP |
“I’m very happy that I have been told in no uncertain terms that what
sex you are is not just male or female necessarily,” Norrie, who uses
only a first name, told AFP.
Born as a male, Norrie underwent gender reassignment surgery in 1989
to become a woman. However, the surgery failed to resolve Scotland-born
Norrie’s ambiguity about sexual identity.
The sexual equality campaigner made global headlines in February 2010
when an application to New South Wales’ department of Births, Deaths and
Marriages accepted that “sex non-specific” could be accepted for
Norrie’s records.
But soon afterwards, the office revoked its decision, saying the
certificate was invalid and had been issued in error. At the time,
Norrie said the decision left her feeling “socially assassinated”.
“There was a lot of support for fighting for it,” the 52-year-old
recalled. So began a series of appeals, ending with a decision last
month in the New South Wales Court of Appeal which ruled that sex should
not be limited to male or female, though it stopped short of defining
other categories.
“There are a few people, not many, who are like Norrie and don’t want
male or female on their birth certificate,” said Norrie’s lawyer Emily
Christie.
“She feels that every time she has to sign a form, every time she has
got to fill something out, and it says ‘What’s your sex?’ and it only
has male or female, she feels that she is being forced to live a lie.”
Christie said that while Norrie’s passport has had an ‘X’ instead of
male or female, this only goes so far, as a birth certificate creates a
person’s identity under a range of different laws.
“If Births, Deaths and Marriages recognises that you can be something
other than male and female, then she can be something other than male
and female potentially under other legislation,” Christie explained.
“This is the first time that we have actually had a court case say
that just the ordinary meaning of sex, in this legislation, in our
current day and age given our understanding of diversity in the
community and how people want to be identified, can mean more than just
male and female and so should recognise Norrie.”
The case has now been sent back to the Administrative Decisions
Tribunal to determine what the description for Norrie will be, and
whether a term such as “non-specific” is acceptable.
Within two weeks of the Norrie decision, the Australian government
had released new guidelines stating that individuals should be given the
option of selecting “male”, “female” or “indeterminate, intersex, or
unspecified” on their Australian Government documents.
“Transgender and intersex people in Australia face many issues trying
to ensure the gender status on their personal records matches the gender
they live and how they are recognised by the community,”
Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said in announcing the new guidelines.
Anna Brown, the director of advocacy and strategic litigation at the
Melbourne-based Human Rights Law Centre, said while Norrie’s case had an
unusual set of facts, it was important the law “recognise that sex and
gender are more complex and nuanced than a simple binary of ‘M’ and
‘F’”. “Law, policy and practice should reflect the reality of sex and
gender diversity in our community, and new anti-discrimination laws to
prohibit discrimination on the basis of ‘gender identity’ and ‘intersex
status’ and the availability of passports with an ‘X’ marker are all
significant strides in the right direction,” she said.
“Sadly, in many respects intersex, transgender and gender diverse
people, such as Norrie, remain invisible. We need to ensure their
stories are told in order to build greater understanding and ultimately
reduce the stigma, discrimination and harassment they face, often on a
daily basis.” Norrie, who believes officials have been sympathetic to
her case all along, is “enormously pleased” and confident of further
progress.
“I’ve had X on my passport for two years now, and I’ve been putting
my sex down as non-specific since I was first granted a certificate back
in 2010. People seem to be able to accommodate the truth.
“I’m not the first person like this in society, I’m the one that
happened to put my hand up for this particular case,” Norrie said. “I
stand on the shoulders of giants.”
- AFP
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