Sex and gender recognition (page 5 of 8)

For an introduction to these issues, see our page on identification documents

Gina Wilson photographed by Dean Sewell

Medicare is now sex and gender neutral

We welcome the Health Minister’s announcement today that Medicare will be gender and sex neutral. For intersex people, the fact that our bodies do not conform to sex norms means that the healthcare issues we face sometimes do not conform to the way medical services and procedures have been defined, and made available, by Medicare….
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On Norrie v NSW Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages

This is an analysis of the NSW Court of Appeal judgement in the matter of Norrie v the NSW Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages (BDM), in relation to its relevance to intersex people. Update The case has now been appealed to the High Court by the NSW government. Our briefing paper on the High…
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AFP: Australia embraces new gender guidelines

Morgan Carpenter, OII Australia secretary, is quoted in this syndicated AFP article by Madeleine Coorey about the new federal guidelines for recognition of sex and gender.

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Third sex, redux

After fielding a few phone calls it is clear that many people can’t grasp our position in opposing the creation of a third sex while supporting X sex descriptors on birth certificates and passports.

detail of Equal Rights Trust issue cover

Equal Rights Trust: Testimony by Gina Wilson on rights for intersex people

The UK’s Equal Rights Trust has just published testimony by OII Australia president, Gina Wilson, in The Equal Rights Review, Vol. 10. Gina talks about her personal background, her work as an activist, and the issues we face in seeking human rights, including intersex and the sex binary, the medical model, invisibility in human rights…
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Submission on government recognition of sex and gender

This submission has been superseded by later policy, based on the 2013 Malta Declaration, a joint submission to the Attorney General’s Department on amending the guidelines, 2015 2017 Darlington Statement

the shape of ACT, in purple

Response to the ACT government on ‘Beyond the Binary’

The government of the Australian Capital Territory has published its response to “Beyond the Binary”, a report on legal recognition of “sex and gender diversity” in the jurisdiction. We express serious and fundamental concerns.

detail from newspaper report

Ten years of ‘X’ passports, and no protection from discrimination

Read about bodily integrity, and eliminating harmful practices Read about eugenics, prenatal screening and elimination Read about discrimination, and stigma Read about identification documents, sex and gender Important note: this paper should not be regarded as a guide to our current policy on identification documents. Our approaches have been informed by community-building and evidence-building, and…
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Morgan Holmes on “Locating Third Sexes”

In the journal Transformations, Morgan Holmes writes about a third sex or gender. Morgan Holmes approaches the subject as a scholar and an intersex person; she was formerly a member of ISNA and is now an assistant professor of sociology at Wilfrid Laurier University in Ontario, Canada. The paper is recommended reading for people interested…
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First thoughts on the federal anti-discrimination proposals

OII Australia was disappointed but not surprised that intersex was not specifically included in the recently released Anti-Discrimination Consolidation Bill. From the exposure draft, page 15: Section 6 of the proposed bill includes the following definition: gender identity means: (a) the identification, on a genuine basis, by a person of one sex as a member…
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Venn diagram showing three intersecting circles

Intersex and intersectionalities

The rights and concerns of intersex people do not simply overlap the rights and concerns of women, of LGBT people and of disabled people, we exist at the intersection between these different forms of discourse.