The High Court of Australia ruled on Wednesday that a person can be legally recognized as gender neutral. "Norrie," who was born male but underwent a "sex affirmation procedure" in 1989, sought to be officially categorized as gender "non specific." Though the NSW Regisry of Birth, Deaths, and Marriages initially granted the request, it later revoked that decision, leading to a number of appeals by Norrie. The High Court ultimately settled the matter, holding that the Birth, Deaths, and Marriages Registration Act of 1995 recognizes that a person may be neither male nor female and permits a registration of "non-specific."

The rights and identity of transgender individuals has been a topic of debate throughout the world recently and remains controversial in many countries. In February an appeals court in Texas vacated a lower court ruling that invalidated the marriage of a transgender woman. Earlier that month Amnesty International (AI) accused European countries of violating the human rights of those who seek to change their legal gender. In January the Supreme Court of Maine ruled that a local school violated the state's Human Rights Act when it refused to allow a transgender fifth-grader to use the girls bathroom. In November Privacy for All Students petitioned the state of California to repeal a law designed to protect transgender public school students. That same month, the US Senate approved the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which outlaws workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.

(Published by Jurist – April 2, 2014)