‘Gender X’: UK May Approve a Gender-Neutral Passport

The UK may soon have a gender-neutral passport.

Times they are a changin’. The UK may soon allow people to obtain gender-neutral passports… I know. I can hardly believe it.

This possible new passport is getting support from a wide smattering of people in different political parties across the UK. If the UK does decide to allow a gender-neutral passport (also called Gender X passports), the country would join “Australia, New Zealand, and Nepal as one of the few places with passports for non-gendered citizens,” Dazed Digital reports.

While these passports would be available for anyone who doesn’t claim a gender, Dazed Digital reports that in the UK, they are mainly aimed at British LGBTQ people who don’t want to identify as male or female:

“Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has pledged to consider ‘Gender X’ passports as part of an overall rehaul on trans rights if Labour get into government,” reports Dazed Digital.

Over the past few years, businesses, organizations, and services, such as Google+ and Facebook, have started to provide more gender options for people who don’t claim a gender. So far, 2015 and much of 2014, has been filled with a lot of positive press about gender neutrality. Here are just a few of the notable recent changes we’ve seen:

More establishments, colleges, are creating gender-neutral bathrooms: Gender-neutral bathrooms are a great option for people whose inner gender doesn’t necessarily match their outer gender. The following quote from Sasha Buchert, staff attorney for the Transgender Law Center, in a somewhat recent HuffPost article, explains the importance of these bathrooms: “Trans and gender nonconforming students should be focusing on their education or getting their job done well, and not about which bathroom they can use.”

Parents are giving kids gender-neutral names: Many parents are beginning to recognize that just because their kid is born as a girl, doesn’t mean she will grow up to be a girl.

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Abbie Stutzer

Writer, editor, and owner of Ginchy!, a freelance writing and editing company, and home funeral hub. Adores smart sex ed, sustainable ag, spooky history, women's health, feminism, horror, wine, and sci-fi.