Sexless reforms on the horizon
The Standing Committee of Attorneys General (SCAG) will establish a working group to consider the implications of creating an unspecified sex category for documents and records.
At a SCAG meeting the NSW Attorney General John Hatzistergos said there were people in the community who could not identify as male or female, mentioning the case of sexless activist Norrie mAy-Welby and a 2009 recommendation by the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) that, “a person over the age of 18 years should be able to choose to have an unspecified sex noted on documents and records”.
“The Attorney noted that this is a very complex area of social policy with very significant legal and practical implications on a national scale,” a spokesman for Hatzistergos said.
“Given there are mutual recognition arrangements in place for birth and other identity documents if one jurisdiction was to allow unspecified to be noted on documents this would potentially impact on all jurisdictions.”
The working group will consider implications of recording an unspecified sex category on birth or gender recognition certificates in areas including marriage, aged care, hospital rooms, emergency refuges, prisons, and requirements that body searchers be carried out by members of the same sex.
The spokesman told the Star Observer the Attorneys General agreed that any reforms would need to be considered very carefully and given attention from a national perspective.
Norrie welcomed the decision to convene a working group.
“I’m glad they’ve made a commitment to proceed with this and to look at the implications — it looks like they’re serious,” Norrie said.
“My case is a symptom of a wider groundswell of people seeking similar recognition.”
Organisation Intersex International (OII) Australia president Gina Wilson welcomed the commitment to a working group, but said it was vital that a “sex-not-specified” category be open to anyone who chose it.
“OII opposes a not-specified category if it is only available to people who have physical differences,” Wilson said.
“That would be the equivalent of creating a third sex and we absolutely oppose that based on the experience in other countries where a third sex effectively operates such as Thailand and India.
“A third sex relegates people who don’t fit standard definitions of male and female into a subhuman class of people. We support the abolition of sex markers on all documentation except medical documentation where necessary, and we support everybody’s right not to specify their sex.”
Come, you spirits
That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here,
lady Macbeath
Anthony.. marginal? Really? Gays and Lesbians = 2.7% of Australia. Non-Transsexual Transgender is estimated as at least that! Intersex is more common at 4% of live births! Gays and Lesbians are not the largest part of GLBTI Anthony!
How then is that Marginal?
Now Bisexuals are a huge 10%-20% of the population, but then the upper estimates of Transgender from places like the Thai school that put in a Transgender toilet was also 10%-20% of the students each year.
Marginal? Tell me how is something which effects somewhere in between 2% and 24% of Australia Marginal?
[…] an article on Star Online reports on developments in norrie mAy-welby’s struggle to have their ‘Sex Not Specified’ […]
Why are they wasting time on the most margin of issues within the GLBT community – seriously is there not something more important to concern themselves with which will affect far more people than this crap..
Matters regarding federal EO Laws and Gay Marriage are far more pressing issues.
So far this is spin with more elections coming up. Don’t be fooled. There is no Mr Nice guy here. The AHRC Sex Files Report 2009 was a complex document with many recommendations virtualy all of which all currents AT’s and the AHRC are presently refusing to implement. Intersex children are still being butchered. Smoke and mirrows and no real substanse. SAGE members have several cases against government departments at the moment because each state and the federal AT refuses to implement those human rights recommedations. We need to keep the preasure on……..
Intersex, sex and/or gender diverse people need a whole host of law reforms. We want the loaf not crumbs.
[…] Attorneys General look into major gender reforms Posted on January 5, 2011 by equallovearmidale In what could be a major victory for many Intersex and Transgender people with bi-gender or genderless identities it’s entirely possible people may be one day soon able to have their ‘sex status’ on documents changed to Unspecified if the Attorneys General working group comes up with the goods and they have the simple decency to go through with it. Article on this with great comments by Gina Wilson of OII here. […]
They are concerned about Prisons?
What about Transgender prisoners like Veronica Baxter who was dead within days of being put into a mens prison?
And refuges? If they compare the violence stats suffered by Transgender people and Cisgender people they will see that the Transgender people are more vulnerable! http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/06/04/2918401.htm
They definately should proceed with this, especially bearing in mind what Gina Wilson says on the matter.