The Administrative High Court in London dimissed the case R (on the application of Christie Elan-Cane) and Secretary of State for the Home Department case today. Christie’s case challenges the lawfulness of requiring those who apply for the issue of a passport to declare whether their gender is either male or female, and that a passport will only be issued bearing an “M” (male) or “F” (female) indicator in the sex field, rather than an “X”, indicating an unspecified sex.
Despite the outcome, the judgment sets an important legal precedent and a milestone in civil rights litigation on gender identity and LGBTI+ rights. For the first time in the UK, the Courts have recognised that the European Convention on Human Rights (Article 8) guarantees a right to respect for non-gendered identity. This in itself is a crucial first step in the legal recognition of non-gendered people and it means the Government, in taking policy decisions, must take into account the rights of those who, like Christie, identify outside the binary gender concepts of male and female.
TGEU, together with ILGA World, had provided expert letters to the case.
Download the press release of Christie’s legal representative
Download the judgment