As of last week, gender “X” is recognized on B.C. IDs.
Black Press ran a web poll, where we asked what people thought of that. Within little time, we got about 50 votes, 56 per cent of voters choosing “I don’t Like it.” The percentage has been creeping up ever since.
I was also a bit surprised to learn which jurisdictions had already beaten B.C. to the punch.
Gender X has been allowed on passports in Canada since 2017, on birth certificates in Newfoundland and Labrador and the Northwest Territories since 2017 and since earlier in 2018 in Ontario and Alberta.
Ontario also removed the gender field altogether on health cards in 2016 and added the “X” option to drivers licences in 2017.
Furthermore, a person in Australia managed to get an “X” behind the gender field as early as 2003.
Since 2013, it’s been possible to leave an absence in the gender field in Germany.
In India, “others” has been an option since 2009 on voting rolls and voter identity cards. Courts in Nepal created a third-gender category in 2007. A few U.S. states have done so as well.
The list goes on.
The point here is, allowing something other than “M” or “F” is hardly groundbreaking at this point.
Given all of that, it must be somewhat disappointing for B.C. residents who feel that they don’t fall within heteronormative (male and female) gender roles to see the response be one of fairly strong dislike.
Personally, my knee-jerk reaction is I don’t really care; it doesn’t personally affect me. But, it is something we should care about.
One of the most prominent themes in the recent civic elections was what a fantastic place we live in.
However, that’s only really true if you feel welcome in the community. Given the poll results and some of the comments, I’m inclined to say that we still have a ways to go towards making people who don’t fit the traditional mold welcome.
Perhaps the ability to mark a simple “X” on an ID will be a move closer to helping people feel at least a little more welcome.
-Black Press