@seabass @sunflowerinrain @syhr I intend to try getting an X in my passport using section 46 of the Data Protection Act (the UK’s implementation of GDPR article 16, the right to rectification).
The controller must, if so requested by a data subject, rectify without undue delay inaccurate personal data relating to the data subject.
I don’t see why this wouldn’t apply to the gender marker in passports - it’s definitely personal data. And it doesn’t cost anything to submit a GDPR request to HMPO (and complain to the ICO if that fails) so I might as well try (although I thought of this idea in 2024 and I still haven’t actually done it…)
@mynameistillian @syhr According to the ICAO standard, the sex field is mandatory but countries can just put X (or < in the MRZ, which is also the filler character) for unspecified:
Where an issuing State or organization does not want to identify the sex, the filler character (<) shall be used in this field in the MRZ and an X in this field in the VIZ.
So there’s nothing preventing them from effectively abolishing gender markers on passports by just putting X for everyone (which they should do)
There is a petition on the UK Parliament website to legally recognise nonbinary as a gender – which would include an X marker on UK passports for nonbinary people.
The deadline to sign is March 2026 and at the time of writing only 213 people have signed.
Let's show them the power of Mastodon. At 100,000 signatures, the petition will be debated in Parliament.
Sign 👇
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/738780
#NonBinary #Enby #Trans #Transgender #Queer #LGBTQ #LGBT #UK #UKMastodon #Fediverse