The Diversity Is Spreading

Looks like people can mark down another gender to their documents overseas!

        Australia made it a guideline for people to put intersex on their papers. Statistics shows that 1/2000 people are intersexed so therefore it is only right that they are included on personal forms. I did a post about intersexed people a couple of years ago and for those of you who don't know what that means it's a person that is born with both genitalia or certain parts of both genitalias. Australian Attorney-General, Mary Dreyfus teamed up with the government to announce the process of the intersex option.

        This is said to come into effect on July 1 saying, "This should be recognised and reflected in their personal records held by departments and agencies," said Dreyfus. Documents will marked down saying M (male), F (female), and X (unidentified/intersexed) and if someone marks X, surgery is not a pre-requisite for the change in gender. This idea came about after the Australian Human Rights Commission in 2009 that deals with sex and gender issues. Dreyfus went on to explain that transgender and intersex already have problems with identity so then they don't need anymore confusion when filling out any forms, "Transgender and intersex people in Australia face many issues trying to ensure the gender status on their personal records matches the gender they live and how they are recognised by the community," said Dreyfus.

        It's great that Australia is adding diversity to documents. It is important for people to know that there are so many types of people and they deserve to have rights. I can just imagine how stumped some people can be when they try to identify themselves on paper. Intersexed people have been around forever, but they are not really talked about that much. Society focuses a lot on gays, lesbians, and transgenders but never intersex that much. There is so much stigma with gender, but people can't help how they were born. Intersexed individuals should be able to mark down whatever they feel comfortable identifying themselves as.