You can play, but let's play fair. It's not necessary to respond to comments if you don't want to.

Let's not forget It wasn't that long ago that racism was rife in America.

Of course this unnecessary comment on a thread that is supposed to be about passports is just fine and dandy, because no one but the US is bigoted.

It was ON TOPIC with this thread, PERTINENT to the previous post and NOT an attack. If you wish to choose to be offended then that's up to you, but let everybody else just get on with the discussion without having to be interrupted by this..................Oh, forget it.

With regard to your comments:

Let's not forget It wasn't that long ago that racism was rife in America.

Even the pentagon was built with twice as many bathrooms as needed because it was built with racial segregation in mind.

The topic of this thread has absolutely nothing to do with race. Your comment is irrelevant to the topic and therefore OFF TOPIC .

I find the rather hysterical nature of some posts regarding this minor and logical, as Harcourt so rightly points out, move. Especially considering how many got married here in Thailand. Did you not notice when you married your Thai spouse that you were required to choose a religion and, at least when I got married, there was no box for none?

Just curious if the atheists and agnostics here objected because there was no box for none?

That should be fun at airport security when they do the body search. They could have males checking females and female security checking males. There will be lots of laughs. The ladyboys should have a ball...

Oh, they already do!

What's confusing. A female is screened by a female screener and a male by a male. That has absolutely nothing to do with 'parent 1' or 'parent 2'. Unless of course, you want to confuse them. Whatever turns you on, I guess.

Let's not forget It wasn't that long ago that racism was rife in America.

Not true of the UK and pretty much everywhere else of course.

When Stax (the US record label with both black and white artists such as Otis Redding and Steve Cropper) toured the UK and France in 1967 they were asked what they thought of the UK. They replied by saying that it was fabulous. When asked why they said it was the first time they'd ever all been able to stay in the same hotel.

So the UK and France were more tolerant of blacks for a very limited time - when there were hardly any living there. That hardly makes them any more tolerant than anywhere else when one examines the big picture.

So the UK and France were more tolerant of blacks for a very limited time - when there were hardly any living there. That hardly makes them any more tolerant than anywhere else when one examines the big picture.

Actually the majority of 'blacks' arrived long before 1967. The most famous were those who arrived on the MV Empire Windrush in 1948. They were invited to come and work in the UK. There were also Caribbean servicemen who'd served in WWII who wanted to return to the UK and rejoin our military forces.

You can whistle all you want but the UK has never practised legal segregation. We have our racists as all other countries do but we have no equivalent of the US Supreme Court decision Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka 1954 because we have never segregated blacks and whites into separate schools. The UK abolished slavery in 1807. The US Supreme Court in Plessy v. Ferguson 1897 decided that racial segregation was ok.

I'd have a lot more respect for you if you'd occasionally admit that the US isn't perfect. You do your country a great disservice by not admitting that it, like all other countries, occasionally <deleted> up. I'm English and I'm quite happy to admit that, over the centuries we've done some stupid and nasty things. We've also done some good things. You won't find me springing to the defense of our stupidities. 'My country right or wrong' is a load of old <deleted>. I'm a great admirer of the USA. When I was in the Merchant Navy I visited a lot of coastal towns. I spent a month in dry-dock in Oakland and I've also been on holiday there. Almost without exception the people I met were kind and generous.

I'd have a lot more respect for you if you'd occasionally admit that the US isn't perfect.

I often admit it isn't perfect, but anyone trying to pretend that the UK does not have a long history of racism and bigotry - just like most countries - is way off base.

My problem on Thai Visa is not with legitimate criticism of the US, but with hypocrites who do nothing but vilify it in almost every post. I see no reason to add to the chorus. Of course the US is not perfect, but it is far superior to many countries and especially when comparing it to other superpowers throughout history.

The USA is not even all that great until you compare it to countries that have been in the same position. It is something like democracy is not that wonderful until you compare it to all the other systems of governing.

But what happens with multi-ethnicity?

I have been married several times - wives of Spanish, Polish, Thai and Philippines origin. OK, two are Caucasian, two SE Asian. And if the children marry other races - Chinese, Indian, African?

And if the spouses themselves are multi-racial?

Quite frankly this is an American thing more than a world-wide trait.

I know I've been out of the UK for many years, but when I was there most of the population would respond "I'm British" when asked where they were from, whether their origins/parents origins were West Indian, native British, African or whatever.

Americans do not seem to be satisfied with that - they are Italian-American, African-American, native American, Hispanic-American or whatever. It is only the British-Americans who respond "I'm American" (and maybe only the English - I've known a couple of Scottish-Americans during my travels).

Be proud of who you are - an American. It does not require any qualification, in fact such add-ons demean the 'being American' bit, in my opinion.

Let's not forget It wasn't that long ago that racism was rife in America.

Even the pentagon was built with twice as many bathrooms as needed because it was built with racial segregation in mind.

At least today in America - unlike across Europe - fans at sporting matches don't have to be begged not to make racist chants at the black players.

Speaking of bathrooms in large buildings, I've been to arenas in America where there are maybe double the number of women's bathrooms than men's. That's a good idea.

http://www.wlsam.com/Article.asp?id=2286921

'X' now a gender option on Australian passports

CANBERRA, Australia (WLS) - The Australian government is taking action to minimize discrimination against intersex or transgender people.

The government announced on Thursday that Australian passports will now offer three gender options: male, female, and indeterminate. This measure will enable intersex individuals, those who are biologically not entirely male or female, to categorize their gender as "X" on passports.

Transgender individuals, however, cannot select "X," and will have to pick between male and female. Their choice must also agree with a doctor's statement.

http://www.wlsam.com/Article.asp?id=2286921

'X' now a gender option on Australian passports

CANBERRA, Australia (WLS) - The Australian government is taking action to minimize discrimination against intersex or transgender people.

The government announced on Thursday that Australian passports will now offer three gender options: male, female, and indeterminate. This measure will enable intersex individuals, those who are biologically not entirely male or female, to categorize their gender as "X" on passports.

Transgender individuals, however, cannot select "X," and will have to pick between male and female. Their choice must also agree with a doctor's statement.

I learn from another post that the only other countries to have an X category for gender are India and Pakistan. With Australia, these make an odd trio of bedfellows.

But if these tri-sex passports are used, what do the holders put on the visa application / immigration forms used by other countries, where you have two boxes (M/F) only for sex? I always wanted a third box with 'Yes, please', but no bureaucrat seems to have a sense of humour.

It seems that many countries will have to refuse entry to Indians, Pakistanis and Australians. (Not a bad idea?)