Australia's top court recognizes 'neutral' third gender

Australia's top court recognizes 'neutral' third gender

 AFP News | April 2, 2014

Australia's highest court on Wednesday recognised the existence of a third "non-specific" gender that is neither male nor female, in a landmark ruling campaigners said will help end years of discrimination.

The High Court ruled that not everyone should be forced to identify as a man or woman when dealing with officials, saying some people could legitimately describe themselves as gender neutral.

"The High Court... recognises that a person may be neither male nor female, and so permits the registration of a person's sex as 'non‑specific'," it said in a unanimous judgement.

The decision ended a long legal battle by sexual equality campaigner Norrie [pictured above] to overturn a New South Wales state edict that gender is an inherently "binary" concept involving only men or women.

Source:  http://news.yahoo.com/australias-top-court-recognises-gender-neutral-sex-category-004428333.html