Campaigner loses bid for gender-neutral passports

SkyNews: Campaigner Christie Elan-Cane has lost a High Court action against the government’s policy on gender-neutral passports. Elan-Cane has been fighting for “X” passports for people who define as neither “M” nor “F”.

The campaigner argues the “denial of existence is the worst act of discrimination by the gendered majority against the non-gendered”. Elan-Cane believes the current passport forms are discriminatory, but a judge who heard arguments in the case in London in April dismissed the judicial review action today.

During the April proceedings, Elan-Cane’s lawyers challenged the lawfulness of the policy administered by Her Majesty’s Passport Office, which is part of the Home Office, arguing that it breaches human rights laws.

Mr Justice Jeremy Baker said although he was not at present satisfied that the current policy is unlawful, part of the reasoning for that decision was that a comprehensive review has not been completed.

Elan-Cane’s lawyer, Kate Gallafent, argued the policy breaches Article 8 – the right to respect for private life – and the right to not be discriminated against on the basis of gender or sex, under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).