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‘X’ Why? Gender Markers and Non-binary Transgender People

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Trans Rights and Wrongs

Part of the book series: Ius Comparatum - Global Studies in Comparative Law ((GSCL,volume 54))

Abstract

Jurisdictions increasingly recognize ‘X’ as a legal gender marker alongside ‘M’ and ‘F’, offering an alternative to those whose gender identity falls outside or in excess of the man/woman dichotomy. This chapter explores the justifications and limitations of ‘X’ as a gender marker, arguing that it does not place non-binary people on an equal footing to men and women since it serves as a single, catch-all option for a wide range of non-binary identities. The chapter the explores the possibility of expanding the availability of gender markers to reflect the full diversity of non-binary people but suggests that it would be rejected as absurd due to the ongoing role of gender markers in preserving cisnormativity. It concludes that abandoning gender markers may be the only fully inclusive option. For gender liberation to come within reach, we must imagine a future without gender markers.

Metaphorically a biorg witch with flowers in her hair. I am presently a doctoral student at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law and Joint Centre for Bioethics. I wrote this chapter while at McGill University.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The affiliation section of my first academic publication spoke of me as “[m]etaphorically, a cyborg witch with flowers in her hair” (Ashley 2018a). I keep a list of things I’ve called my gender over the years besides man and woman. In very rough chronological order it includes: transfeminine, demigirl, lesbian, femme, high femme, femme fatale, Patron of Evil Deceivers and Make-Believers, non-binary, Ø, queer, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯, don’t know don’t care, aggressively don’t care, no, yes, fairie, alien, alienby, tired, so damn tired, agender, a gender, biorg, witch, bitch, Empressor, The Right Honourable Empressor Florence Ashley, Slayer of Looks and Men, gaygender, activiste insensée, rosebud, this (while pointing at various things), that (also while pointing at various things), good girl, CLiT, eyeroll, themme fatale, a ball of chaotic horny energy, feminazgûl, hot, grrl, shut up, trashgender, little shit, gender malcontent, shitposting, annoying, transgenderqueer, genderqueer, dick jokes, revolutionary nonchalance, spite, rage, hurricane, thirst, lavender smell, flower, flore, flora, force of nature, divine, transcendent, the unadulterated essence of the sublime, cutiegender, tenderqueer, tenderness, deception, tentacles, unfathomable swirling void, abyss, horny on main, Q3, and a gender not listed here. I regularly update the list.

  2. 2.

    Mx., pronounced “mix”, is a common gender-neutral alternative to Mr./Mrs. I personally favour Ind. and Ent. which are respectively short forms of “individual” and “entity”.

  3. 3.

    Yukon Bill No. 5 has received assent but has yet to come into force (Legislative Assembly of Yukon 2017). It will come into force at a time to be determined by the Commissioner in Executive Council.

  4. 4.

    By routine gender categorisations, I mean to exclude gendering that arise in response to sexist oppression, such as non-mixed feminist spaces. Unlike routine gender categorisations, such categorisations are typically not predicated on a view that gender is a natural category and would not retain their raison d’être in a fully egalitarian society.

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Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Avery Everhart for calling me a ball of chaotic horny energy; Margot Paquette-Greenbaum because she told me to thank her; Nic Rider for their emotional support; and Ido Katri, Zev Miller, River Shannon, and Isabel Cristina Jaramillo Sierra for their feedback and editorial help.

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  1. University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Florence Ashley

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  1. Florence Ashley
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Correspondence to Florence Ashley .

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  1. Universidad de Los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia

    Isabel C. Jaramillo

  2. Department of Law, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden

    Laura Carlson

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Ashley, F. (2021). ‘X’ Why? Gender Markers and Non-binary Transgender People. In: Jaramillo, I.C., Carlson, L. (eds) Trans Rights and Wrongs. Ius Comparatum - Global Studies in Comparative Law, vol 54. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-68494-5_2

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