Queensland could allow gender-neutral birth certificates

Queensland could allow gender-neutral birth certificates
Image: Image: Yvette D'ath / Facebook.

Queensland could in the future allow people options other than male or female on their birth certificates.

Attorney-General Yvette D’Ath has commissioned a discussion paper into recognising sex and gender diversity, The Courier Mail has reported.

The paper says “limitations” exist in how sex and gender are currently recorded, and the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act 2003 has not been comprehensively reviewed since its introduction.

“Calls have been made to include either another category of sex, to allow individuals to self-identify their sex or gender when registering a life event, or to choose their sex or gender from a range of additional categories of sex, such as non-binary, unspecified, non-specific, indeterminate or intersex,” the paper reads.

Estimates vary of how many people are gender diverse, but almost 2 per cent of people are intersex.

Opposition leader Deb Frecklington has attacked the discussion paper, calling it “political correctness gone mad” and saying Queenslanders are more concerned with schools and hospitals than “what is on their birth certificate”.

“Annastacia Palaszczuk’s priorities are simply wrong,” she said.

“State governments should be about delivery not social engineering… the thought police have gone way too far this time.

“These are official government records, you can only be born male or female.”

Frecklington also recently criticised Commonwealth Games organisers for suggesting volunteers consider gender-neutral language for guests, in guidelines she admitted she had not read.

D’Ath said the government’s position on birth certificates would be informed by submissions to the discussion paper.

“There are many people in the LGBTI community who feel current laws don’t adequately reflect or capture the true fabric of all Queensland families,” she said.

“Now that we have marriage equality, the time is right to examine whether Queensland’s life event registration services meet changing community expectations and the needs of LGBTI Queensland.’’

You May Also Like

Comments are closed.