Following the lead from India in 2005 and Pakistan in 2009, Australia has now decided to list a Third Sex for "others", with M, F and now X. A "huge step" forward for gender discrimination, but I can't help finding it a bit bizarre that with no federal civil partnership or gay marriage legislation yet the comparatively few transgenders there are now have far more civil rights in Australia than the far more numerous gays.

"There have been very many cases of people being detained at airports by immigration in foreign countries simply because their passports don't reflect what they look like," she told Australian radio.

Well, it's everybody's own decision to declare their gender as X, but how do you fill in the Thai immigration form, and what do you tell the nice immigration officer in the US?

An excellent point, Tom, and one which is so glaringly obvious I hadn't even thought of it.

I'm guessing that as only India, Pakistan and Australia have 'X' only those countries have changed their immigration forms.

I wonder what happens when an 'X' goes for a pat-down or body search, or just a body scan, if they don't have an appropriate 'X' on security - I can't really see that this will make things any better practically, however much they may feel better.

I am trying to visualise an Australian (Priscilla, Queen of the Desert style) 'X' explaining to Thai immigration that 'X' means 'EX' ...

.......no, given up.

It is interesting, too, that in common with some Muslim countries (like Iran) that seem to look sympathetically at transsexual persons- for example, not condemning them under the same laws which condemn homosexuality, but looking at them as having a kind of illness (though they do require the surgical transformations as an end result of this tolerance), India passed a law relatively early regarding a 'third' gender when they only recently decriminalised the homosexuality of the general gay population, which could count for nearly 100 million persons.... interesting differences.

It looks as if Australia may finally be on the way to recognising gay marriage/Civil Partnerships at a Federal level, despite Julia Gillard's opposition.

At the moment it is all a bit silly and confusing - not so much because some States recognise it but not others, but because of the new Passport laws. Gays can now get married and have full legal rights only if they are cross-dressers and register as X even if they have not had (and do not intend having) any surgery: M+F=OK, M+X=OK, F+X=OK but M+M and F+F= not OK, apparently.

Bizarre.

Edited September 20, 201114 yr by LeCharivari