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发帖数: 29846 | 1 Lawsuit seeks 3rd option besides male, female on US passport
DENVER (AP) — A Colorado resident denied a passport for refusing to
identify as either male or female on the application form has sued the
federal government to try to force the United States to join a handful of
other countries that allow people to get travel documents without picking a
gender.
Lambda Legal announced the lawsuit Monday on behalf of Dana Zzyym (
pronounced Zimm) of Fort Collins, Colorado, who was born with ambiguous sex
characteristics — referred to as intersex. It names Secretary of State John
Kerry as a defendant and claims that requiring people to check a box marked
either "M'' or "F'' is discriminatory and asks people like Zzyym to lie.
Countries including Australia, New Zealand and Nepal allow people to have
their gender marked as "X'' or "other" rather than male or female on
passports. Australia requires people using that option to provide
confirmation from a doctor or psychologist.
One of Zzyym's lawyers, Paul Castillo, said people with such foreign travel
documents are permitted to enter the United States, and he suggested that
federal officials also allow an "x'' option on its passport applications.
Ashley Garrigus, a spokeswoman for the State Department's Bureau of Consular
Affairs, said the department would not comment on pending litigation.
It's not clear how many people would want to take advantage of the "x''
option. Castillo said an estimated 1.7 percent of the population is intersex
— making them about as common as people with red hair — but some identify
as men or women, unlike Zzyym.
Lambda Legal previously joined other groups in pressing the State Department
to change its passport policy for transgender people. Since 2010, people
who undergo gender reassignment surgery have been able to change the gender
on their passport with certification from a doctor. Temporary passports also
are granted to people who are going through a gender transition.
Castillo said there is no gender listed on Zzyym's birth certificate. Zzyym'
s parents raised their child as a boy, when Zzyym underwent some medical
procedures to change characteristics. Zzyym later served in the U.S. Navy as
a man before identifying as intersex while working and studying at Colorado
State University.
Zzyym grew more aware of gender identity and activism working with the
Organisation Intersex International and later unsuccessfully applied for a
passport. Zzyym sought one after being invited to participate in the group's
meeting in Mexico City in October 2014 but was unable to go.
"I defended the rights of this country. I believe I should be able to use a
few of them," said the self-described Air Force brat who was born in
Michigan.
Source URL: http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/lawsuit-seeks-3rd-option-besides-male-female-us-passport |
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