Court of Appeal rejects gender-neutral passports case

A woman who claims to be ‘non-gendered’ has lost her appeal to force the Government to issue gender-neutral passports.

Christie Elan-Cane is female but believes it is discriminatory that the Passport Office (HMPO) does not permit her to use an ‘X’ on her passport instead of an ‘F’.

Her case was dismissed by the High Court in 2018, and the Court of Appeal has now upheld that verdict.

Lawful

In the ruling, Lady Justice Eleanor King said: “The passport issue cannot reasonably be considered in isolation, given that the driver for change is the notion of respect for gender identity across the board.

“The court finds that there was no positive obligation on the state to provide an ‘X’ marker in order to ensure the right of the Appellant to respect for private life.

“Therefore, the current policy of HMPO does not amount to an unlawful breach of the Appellant’s Article 8 private life rights.”

Elan-Cane is expected to appeal to the Supreme Court.

Male and female

The Christian Institute’s Deputy Director for Communications Ciarán Kelly welcomed the news.

He said: “It is a positive sign that the Court of Appeal has upheld the High Court’s ruling and rejected this case.

“Allowing someone to falsify a legal document by claiming to be neither male nor female would be a significant misstep and only serve to entrench the mistaken belief that it is possible to pick and choose your gender – or to have none at all.”