Norrie does not identify as either male or female Photo: EPA |
Australia'shighest court has ruled that a person can be legally recognised as gender neutral as opposed to male or female, ending a long legal battle by a sexual equality campaigner. "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, dismissing a New South Wales state appeal to recognise only men or women. The case centred on a person called Norrie -- who does not identify as either male or female -- who fought a legal battle for a new gender-neutral category. Norrie, who uses only a single name, was born male and underwent gender reassignment surgery in 1989 to become a woman. But the surgery failed to resolve Scottish-born Norrie's ambiguity about their sexual identity, prompting a push for the recognition of a new, non-traditional gender. The campaigner made global headlines in February 2010 when an application to the NSW Department of Births, Deaths and Marriages accepted that "sex non-specific" could be accepted for Norrie's records. But soon afterwards the office revoked its decision, saying the certificate was invalid and had been issued in error. At the time, Norrie said the decision felt like being "socially assassinated". That sparked a series of appeals which resulted in the NSW Court of Appeal recognising Norrie as gender neutral last year, a decision which the High Court backed on Wednesday. Norrie's lawyers argued in court that the activist was "being forced to live a lie" every time their client filled out a document that listed only two options for gender. "Norrie's sex remained ambiguous so that it would be to record misinformation in the register to classify her as male or female," the judgment said. Norrie told AFP last year that most people did not have a problem accepting a non-specific sex category. "People seem to be able to accommodate the truth," the Sydney resident said. "I'm not the first person like this in society, I'm the one that happened to put my hand up for this particular case -- I stand on the shoulders of giants." The Intersex International Australia organisation welcomed the High Court ruling. "We hope that the media will respect the difference between intersex and transgender identities, and identify Norrie's gender as 'non-specific'," it said. |
據(jù)《每日電訊報(bào)》4月2日?qǐng)?bào)道,澳大利亞最高法院裁定,法律上可以承認(rèn)一個(gè)人為中性人,而不被歸類為男性或女性。這一結(jié)果結(jié)束了一位性別平等活動(dòng)家長(zhǎng)期的法律斗爭(zhēng)。 “高等法院……認(rèn)識(shí)到一個(gè)人可能既不是男性也不是女性,因此將允許某些人的性別登記為‘非特定’?!狈ㄔ阂赃@份一致判決駁回了新南威爾士州一份關(guān)于只有男性和女性的上訴。 案件主角叫諾里,是一個(gè)不認(rèn)同自己為男性或女性的人,并為中性人這一范疇的存在而上訴。 諾里只有一個(gè)名字沒(méi)有姓氏,她出生時(shí)是男性,但后來(lái)于1989年接受了變性手術(shù)成為一名女性。 但變性手術(shù)沒(méi)能讓出生于蘇格蘭的諾里明確自己的性別,這促使他/她呼吁承認(rèn)一種新的,非傳統(tǒng)的性別。 諾里曾向新南威爾士州主管出生死亡和婚姻的有關(guān)部門(mén)提出申請(qǐng),要求以自己為考量接受“非特異性”的存在,并因此于2010年2月登上全球新聞的頭條。 但沒(méi)過(guò)多久有關(guān)部門(mén)撤銷其決定,稱該證書(shū)是無(wú)效的。當(dāng)時(shí),諾里說(shuō),知道這一決定后感到像“在社會(huì)歸屬上被除名了” 。 這引發(fā)了諾里后來(lái)的一系列上訴,最終新南威爾士州上訴法院于去年承認(rèn)諾里為中性人,周三高等法院也再次確定了這一決定。 諾里的律師在法庭上聲稱,每次填寫(xiě)表格發(fā)現(xiàn)只有兩種性別選擇時(shí),諾里都有一種“被迫活在謊言”里的感覺(jué)。 “諾里的性別仍然是模棱兩可的,所以將她登記為男性或女性其實(shí)都是錯(cuò)誤的“,判決寫(xiě)道。 去年諾里告訴法新社記者,大多數(shù)人可以接受非確定性這一性類別。 “人們似乎能夠接受這一真相”,悉尼某居民說(shuō)。 “我不是這個(gè)社會(huì)上第一個(gè)這樣的人,我只是碰巧就這一問(wèn)題站了出來(lái)——我是站在巨人的肩膀上的。” 澳大利亞國(guó)際中性人組織對(duì)高等法院的這一裁決感到歡欣鼓舞。 該組織表示“我們希望媒體能夠尊重兩性和變性身份之間的差異,并確定諾里的性別為‘非確定性’?!?/p> (譯者 王琳琳 編輯 齊磊) 掃一掃,關(guān)注微博微信
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