Non-binary: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 12:39, 17 May 2025

Revision as of 13:26, 17 May 2025

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Multiple countries legally recognize non-binary or [[third gender]] classifications. Some non-Western societies have long recognized transgender people as a third gender, although this may not (or may only recently)<ref name=BBC-20091223>{{cite news |title=Pakistani eunuchs to have distinct gender |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8428819.stm |date=December 23, 2009 |work=[[BBC News]] |access-date=December 23, 2009 |archive-date=May 18, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200518094705/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8428819.stm |url-status=live}}</ref> include formal legal recognition. In Western societies, Australia may have been the first country to legally recognize a classification of sex outside of "male" and "female" on legal documentation, with the recognition of [[Alex MacFarlane]]'s intersex status in 2003.<ref name="asa">{{cite journal |url=http://www.asanet.org/sectionsex/documents/SUMMER03sexnews.pdf |title=Newsletter of the Sociology of Sexualities Section of the American Sociological Association |journal=American Sociological Association Sexualities News |volume=6 |issue=1 |date=Summer 2003 |access-date=December 9, 2013 |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304054219/http://www.asanet.org/sectionsex/documents/SUMMER03sexnews.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref> The wider legal recognition of non-binary people—following the recognition of intersex people in 2003—in Australian law followed between 2010 and 2014, with legal action taken against the [[New South Wales Government]] Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages by transgender activist [[Norrie May-Welby]] to recognize Norrie's legal gender identity as "non-specific". [[Supreme Court of India|India's Supreme Court]] formally recognized transgender and non-binary people as a distinct third gender in 2014, following legal action taken by transgender activist [[Laxmi Narayan Tripathi]].<ref>{{Cite news |title=In India, Landmark Ruling Recognizes Transgender Citizens |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2014/04/15/303408581/in-india-landmark-ruling-recognizes-transgender-citizens |access-date=April 30, 2021 |newspaper=[[NPR]] |date=April 15, 2014 |last1=McCarthy |first1=Julie |archive-date=April 30, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210430203253/https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2014/04/15/303408581/in-india-landmark-ruling-recognizes-transgender-citizens |url-status=live}}</ref> In July 2021, Argentina incorporated non-binary gender in its national ID card, becoming the first country in South America to legally recognize non-binary gender on all official documentation; non-binary people in the country will have the option to renew their ID with the letter "X" under gender.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Alberto Fernández pone en marcha el DNI para personas no binarias en un paso más por la igualdad de género |trans-title=Alberto Fernández launches the DNI for non-binary people in one more step for gender equality |url=https://www.clarin.com/politica/gobierno-pone-marcha-dni-personas-binarias-paso-igualdad-genero_0_wHMaz8YnA.html |access-date=July 26, 2021 |website=www.clarin.com |date=July 21, 2021 |language=es |archive-date=July 27, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210727011740/https://www.clarin.com/politica/gobierno-pone-marcha-dni-personas-binarias-paso-igualdad-genero_0_wHMaz8YnA.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/07/22/argentina-nonbinary-id |title=Argentina rolls out gender-neutral ID |last=Westfall |first=Sammy |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=July 22, 2021 |access-date=July 27, 2021 |archive-date=October 3, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211003012209/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/07/22/argentina-nonbinary-id |url-status=live}}</ref>

===United States===

While the United States does not federally recognize a non-binary gender, in 2016 Oregon became the first state to recognize a non-binary gender identity.<ref name=":6">{{Cite web |url=https://harvardlawreview.org/2019/01/they-them-and-theirs |title=They, Them, and Theirs |website=harvardlawreview.org |date=January 10, 2019 |access-date=December 9, 2019 |archive-date=December 5, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191205005233/https://harvardlawreview.org/2019/01/they-them-and-theirs |url-status=live}}</ref> In 2017, California passed an act allowing citizens to identify as "non-binary" on official documents.<ref name=":6"/> {{As of|2019}}, eight states have passed acts that allow "non-binary" or "X" designations on certain identifying documents.<ref name=":6"/> One of the main arguments against the inclusion of a third gender identifier in the U.S. is that it would make law enforcement and surveillance harder, but countries that have officially recognized a third gender marker have not reported these issues.<ref name=":6"/> In the U.S. there are no explicit laws to protect non-binary people from discrimination, but under [[Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964]], it is illegal for an employer to require employees to conform to [[Gender role#Gender stereotypes|gender stereotypes]],<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Cecka |first1=Dale Margolin |author2-link=Martha Chamallas |last2=Chamallas |first2=Martha |date=2016 |chapter=Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins, 490 U.S. 228 (1989) |title=Feminist Judgments: Rewritten Opinions of the United States Supreme Court |pages=341–360 |doi=10.1017/cbo9781316411254.020 |isbn=978-1-107-12662-6 |quote=See ''[[Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins]]'', 490 U.S. 228, 250 (1989 (holding that an employer who punishes employees who fail to conform to stereotypical expectations of members of his or her sex discriminates on the basis of sex).}}</ref> or to fire them merely for being transgender.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Liptak |first=Adam |date=June 15, 2020 |title=Civil Rights Law Protects Gay and Transgender Workers, Supreme Court Rules |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/15/us/gay-transgender-workers-supreme-court.html |access-date=March 7, 2022 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=June 17, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200617162445/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/15/us/gay-transgender-workers-supreme-court.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

Legal recognition of non-binary gender identities in the United States has varied significantly across time and jurisdictions. In June 2016, a court in Oregon issued the first known ruling in the U.S. recognizing a non-binary gender.<ref name="ohara2016">{{Cite web |last=O'Hara |first=Mary Emily |date=June 10, 2016 |title='Nonbinary' is now a legal gender, Oregon court rules |url=http://www.dailydot.com/lifestyle/oregon-court-rules-non-binary-gender-legal |access-date=June 10, 2016 |website=[[The Daily Dot]]}}</ref> In subsequent years, several states, beginning with California in 2017, enacted legislation or adopted policies allowing residents to select a non-binary or “X” gender marker on official documents such as driver's licenses and birth certificates.<ref>{{Cite web |last=O'Hara |first=Mary Emily |date=September 26, 2016 |title=Californian Becomes Second US Citizen Granted 'Non-Binary' Gender Status |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/californian-becomes-second-us-citizen-granted-non-binary-gender-status-n654611 |access-date=September 26, 2016 |website=[[NBC News]]}}</ref> As of early 2025, [[ Legal recognition of non-binary gender|over 20 states and the District of Columbia]] continue to offer non-binary gender markers on some state-issued documents.

At the federal level, non-binary recognition advanced during the early 2020s. In 2021, the U.S. Department of State issued the first passport bearing an “X” gender marker<ref name="Lambda Legal">{{Cite web |date=October 27, 2021 |title=Lambda Legal Client Dana Zzyym Receives First 'X' U.S. Passport |url=https://www.lambdalegal.org/blog/co_20211027_dana-zzyym-receives-first-us-passport-with-x-gender-marker |access-date=November 7, 2021 |website=Lambda Legal}}</ref>, and beginning in April 2022, this option became available to all applicants without medical documentation.<ref>{{Cite web |title=X Gender Marker Available on U.S. Passports Starting April 11 |url=https://www.state.gov/x-gender-marker-available-on-u-s-passports-starting-april-11/ |access-date=2022-04-17 |website=United States Department of State |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Passports {{!}} National Center for Transgender Equality |url=https://transequality.org/know-your-rights/passports |access-date=2024-06-11 |website=transequality.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Selecting your Gender Marker |url=https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/need-passport/selecting-your-gender-marker.html |access-date=2024-06-11 |website=travel.state.gov}}</ref> However, this policy was reversed in January 2025 when President Donald Trump issued an executive order directing federal agencies to recognize only male and female categories.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Luhby |first=Tami |date=20 January 2025 |title=Trump two-gender edict would upend 'X' identity on passports |language=en |work=CNN |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2025/01/20/politics/two-genders-us-passports-federal-government-trump/index.html |access-date=20 January 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Watson |first1=Kathryn |last2=Linton |first2=Caroline |title=Trump executive order says federal government only recognizes "two sexes" |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-executive-order-says-federal-government-only-recognizes-two-sexes/ |access-date=22 January 2025 |work=CBS News |date=January 21, 2025}}</ref> The U.S. Department of State subsequently suspended all new passport applications requesting an “X” marker<ref name="guard-23jan2025">{{cite news |last1=Gedeon |first1=Joseph |title=Rubio instructs staff to freeze passport applications with 'X' sex markers |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/23/trump-rubio-x-gender-passport |access-date=January 23, 2025 |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=January 23, 2025}}</ref>

, though previously issued passports with an “X” designation remain valid until expiration.<ref>{{cite news |title=Passports with 'X' sex markers will be valid until they expire or are renewed, State Department says |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-politics-and-policy/passports-x-sex-marker-guidance-valid-expire-state-department-rcna191539 |agency=NBC News}}</ref>

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==Discrimination==