THE AUSTRALIAN government announced today that passports will be changed to offer three gender options: male, female and indeterminate.

Here’s my question.

Given that being of “indeterminate” sex is purely wishful thinking, why don’t passports add more options? What if you consider yourself an angel? Or a goddess? Perhaps a fairy or a superhero? You may have been born human, but feel more like a hummingbird or a dragon.

Three options are not enough. If passports are going to meet the needs of the human imagination, there should be a long list of possibilities.

                                                — Comments —

Art writes:

I don’t think this is entirely silly. It might be oversensitive, but hermaphrodites from my understanding have no distinct sex, and in many cases are sterile. I am not sure we could consider them to be entirely men or women.

This passport specifically excludes personal opinion, and is based only on physical criteria. This is not something like homosexual marriage or being trans-gendered. From the article: ” 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.”

Laura writes:

If transgender individuals are not included, that is good. But then I am completely puzzled. The number of hermaphrodites is extremely small. Also, hermaphrodites live as one sex or the other, and generally do not wish to identify themselves as hermaphrodites. Thirdly, what possible reason is there for identifying a hermaphrodite on a passport?

Art writes:

Airport security can get pretty intrusive. This may be a reaction to that. Or it could just be an attempt to be sensitive, or oversensitive.

Alissa writes:

A few months ago the USA government removed the words “Father” and “Mother” from the USA passport. It was due to a homosexual couple suing for discrimination and from now it’s only “Parent A” and “Parent B.” Reminds me of “Brave New World.”

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