Norrie's 'ungendered' status withdrawn
Norrie's 'ungendered' status withdrawn
By Chi Tranter, AAP March 18, 2010, 5:48 pm
Norrie, who famously became the first person in the world deemed neither male nor female, has now had the certificate confirming the gender-neutral status withdrawn.
NSW's Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages deemed invalid the certificate it issued on February 25 which established the 48-year-old's sex as "non specified".
It says it cancelled Norrie's "recognised details certificate" after receiving legal advice it was invalid.
"When I got the call on Tuesday I was absolutely devastated. I felt like I had been killed," Norrie told AAP on Thursday.
"My identity has gone all over the world ... (now the) attorney-general's taking back what they sold to me.
"If I sell you something by mistake ... I can't say: `Oh no, I have re-thought that. I didn't mean to do that.' I can't take it back off you."
Norrie, who only uses one name, wants to know why the registry didn't seek legal advice before issuing the certificate.
"Three weeks after they issued it and I go public ... somehow they get legal advice telling them they didn't have the right to issue it in the first place," Norrie said.
NSW Attorney-General John Hatzistergos told parliament on Thursday his office made some inquiries about the certificate after the issue was "ventilated" in the media.
He said legal advice provided to the registry said "the registrar may only issue a recognised detail certificate or a new birth certificate following a change of sex in either male or female gender".
Norrie was registered as male at birth, began hormone treatment at 23 and had surgery to become a woman, but then stopped taking hormones, preferring to live as neither male nor female.
After receiving the ungendered certificate, Norrie visited the bank, Centrelink and the Roads and Traffic Authority to update their details.
"They all said they didn't know how to put it (gender unspecified) into their computers, but they all agreed to do it and to have a word to their computer programmers," Norrie said.
"It is the job of the system to fit the people it serves, not the job of the people to fit the system.
"I would like to see the Attorney-General's Department apologise for harassing me."
NSW Greens MP Lee Rhiannon has called on Mr Hatzistergos to reform the laws.
"If NSW laws prohibit Norrie and other gender-diverse people having their status recognised, the NSW government should act to change these laws," she said in a statement.
Ms Rhiannon said a 2009 Human Rights Commission report recommended people over 18 should be able to choose to have an unspecified sex, and NSW's laws should reflect the recommendation.
NSW Registrar Greg Curry denies Mr Hatzistergos forced Births, Deaths and Marriages to revoke the certificate.
"At no time did the registrar state or imply that the attorney-general or anyone else had `pressured' him to cancel the certificate," he said in a statement.
NSW's Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages deemed invalid the certificate it issued on February 25 which established the 48-year-old's sex as "non specified".
It says it cancelled Norrie's "recognised details certificate" after receiving legal advice it was invalid.
"When I got the call on Tuesday I was absolutely devastated. I felt like I had been killed," Norrie told AAP on Thursday.
"My identity has gone all over the world ... (now the) attorney-general's taking back what they sold to me.
"If I sell you something by mistake ... I can't say: `Oh no, I have re-thought that. I didn't mean to do that.' I can't take it back off you."
Norrie, who only uses one name, wants to know why the registry didn't seek legal advice before issuing the certificate.
"Three weeks after they issued it and I go public ... somehow they get legal advice telling them they didn't have the right to issue it in the first place," Norrie said.
NSW Attorney-General John Hatzistergos told parliament on Thursday his office made some inquiries about the certificate after the issue was "ventilated" in the media.
He said legal advice provided to the registry said "the registrar may only issue a recognised detail certificate or a new birth certificate following a change of sex in either male or female gender".
Norrie was registered as male at birth, began hormone treatment at 23 and had surgery to become a woman, but then stopped taking hormones, preferring to live as neither male nor female.
After receiving the ungendered certificate, Norrie visited the bank, Centrelink and the Roads and Traffic Authority to update their details.
"They all said they didn't know how to put it (gender unspecified) into their computers, but they all agreed to do it and to have a word to their computer programmers," Norrie said.
"It is the job of the system to fit the people it serves, not the job of the people to fit the system.
"I would like to see the Attorney-General's Department apologise for harassing me."
NSW Greens MP Lee Rhiannon has called on Mr Hatzistergos to reform the laws.
"If NSW laws prohibit Norrie and other gender-diverse people having their status recognised, the NSW government should act to change these laws," she said in a statement.
Ms Rhiannon said a 2009 Human Rights Commission report recommended people over 18 should be able to choose to have an unspecified sex, and NSW's laws should reflect the recommendation.
NSW Registrar Greg Curry denies Mr Hatzistergos forced Births, Deaths and Marriages to revoke the certificate.
"At no time did the registrar state or imply that the attorney-general or anyone else had `pressured' him to cancel the certificate," he said in a statement.
posted by Norrie @ Thursday, March 18, 2010
1 Comments:
At 19 March, 2010 00:46,
Abel Tm said…
Great news, Norrie, congratulations!
And it's a worldwide hit: they herald it in the French daily 'Libération'!
There's so much to do here. Don't you want to come and pay us a visit?
Luvs from Anna aka Abel TM :)
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