Legal recognition of intersex people

Intersex people are born with sex characteristics, such as chromosomes, gonads, or genitals that, according to the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, "do not fit typical binary notions of male or female bodies".^[1]

According to the Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions, few countries have provided for the legal recognition of intersex people. The Asia Pacific Forum states that the legal recognition of intersex people is firstly about access to the same rights as other men and women, when assigned male or female; secondly it is about access to administrative corrections to legal documents when an original sex assignment is not appropriate; and thirdly it is not about the creation of a third sex or gender classification for intersex people as a population but it is, instead, about self determination.^[2]

The Asia Pacific Forum, the Council of Europe,^[3] and the Malta declaration of the Third International Intersex Forum have called for non-binary gender classifications to be available on a voluntary, opt-in basis.^[2] The Council of Europe has called for greater consideration of the implications of new sex classifications on intersex people,^[3] while the Third International Intersex Forum called for the long term removal of sex or gender from official identification documents.^[2]

In some countries, legal recognition may be limited, access to any form of birth certificate may be difficult,^[4] while some other countries recognise that intersex people may have non-binary gender identities.^[2] Sociological research in Australia, a country with a non-binary gender marker, has shown that 19% of people born with atypical sex characteristics may prefer that option.^[5]

^ "Free & Equal Campaign Fact Sheet: Intersex" (PDF). United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. 2015. Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Cite error: The named reference afp2016 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ ^a ^b Cite error: The named reference coe was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ "Kenya takes step toward recognizing intersex people in landmark ruling". Reuters. 2014-12-05.
^ Jones, Tiffany; Hart, Bonnie; Carpenter, Morgan; Ansara, Gavi; Leonard, William; Lucke, Jayne (February 2016). Intersex: Stories and Statistics from Australia (PDF). Cambridge, UK: Open Book Publishers. ISBN 978-1-78374-208-0. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-09-14. Retrieved 2016-02-02.

[unfe-fact-1] "Free & Equal Campaign Fact Sheet: Intersex" (PDF). United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. 2015. Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 28 March 2016.

[afp2016-2] Cite error: The named reference afp2016 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[coe-3] Cite error: The named reference coe was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[Reuters-4] "Kenya takes step toward recognizing intersex people in landmark ruling". Reuters. 2014-12-05.

[jonesbk2016-5] Jones, Tiffany; Hart, Bonnie; Carpenter, Morgan; Ansara, Gavi; Leonard, William; Lucke, Jayne (February 2016). Intersex: Stories and Statistics from Australia (PDF). Cambridge, UK: Open Book Publishers. ISBN 978-1-78374-208-0. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-09-14. Retrieved 2016-02-02.

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