A traveler cannot be gender-neutral as ruled by the Court of Appeals after the issue was brought up in December.
It was “discriminatory” for the UK’s passport application to ask individuals in indicating whether they are male or female according to Campaigner Christie Elan-Cane who brought up the issue to three senior judges last year. Cane’s rep Kate Gallafent QO said this case was violating the human rights of those who do not identify with either gender and their private life:
‘This is an important case in the anxious context of the proper understanding and respect for the intimate, human rights of the affected class – persons whose gender identity is neither, or neither exclusively, male nor female.’
A ruling was issued out by Lady Justice Eleanor King today stating there was “there was a little more central to a citizen’s private life than gender.”
‘In this case, however, the passport issue cannot reasonably be considered in isolation, given that the driver for change is the notion of respect for gender identity across the board. The court finds that there was no positive obligation on the state to provide an ‘X’ marker in order to ensure the right of the Appellant to respect for private life. Therefore, the current policy of HMPO does not amount to an unlawful breach of the Appellant’s Article 8 private life rights. ‘The court accepts that the issue goes to gender identity and is an issue central to a person’s Article 8 private life.’
Elan-Cane responded to the ruling on Twitter and said they will take the case further to Supreme Court: ‘I regret to inform that the Appeal Court has ruled in the UK government’s favour in a judgment handed down this morning. We intend to seek permission for the case to be heard at the Supreme Court.’
