Third Sex

Jack Dikian

September 2011

Sex and Gender Diverse Passport Applicants

Perusing the revised policy on Sex and Gender Diverse Passport for applicants on the Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, I see it is now possible for a passport to be issued to sex and gender diverse applicants in M (male), F (female) or X (indeterminate/unspecified/intersex). To be perfectly honest, I’m not really sure how new this is. I came by it quite by chance.

We know that biology determines genetically whether a human being is male or female (on the basis of the XX or XY or a variation thereof chromosomes), the state of being neither a man or a woman is sometimes considered in relation to the individual's gender role in society, gender identity, sexual orientation or any other characteristic.

The passport office website informs that a medical practitioner certifies that the person has had, or is receiving, appropriate clinical treatment for gender transition to a new gender, or that they are intersex and do not identify with the sex assigned to them at birth. Of course, applicants must meet all other normal passport requirements, such as providing proof of identity documents to support their identity in the wider community.