- Norrie May-Welby
-
Norrie May-Welby (born 23 May 1961[1]), also known as norrie mAy-Welby,[2] is a Scottish-Australian who became the first person in the world officially declared to be neither a man nor a woman,[3][4][5][6] making Australia the first country in the world to recognise a 'non-specified' gender.[7][2]
Contents
History
May-Welby was born in Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland as a male and moved to Perth, Western Australia[8] at the age of seven. May-Welby underwent male-to-female reassignment surgery on 3 April 1989,[8] but later found that being a woman was not what zie felt like either.[4][5][9] May-Welby moved to Sydney, New South Wales in the early 1990s, after a highly publicized court case in Perth.[10] Doctors stated, in January 2010, that May-Welby was a neuter, neither male nor female, as hir psychological self-image was as a neuter, hir hormones were not the same as a male or female's, and zie had no sex organs.[2]
One of May-Welby's worries about being labeled male or female is that zie now looks like neither and is physically neither as well. Because of this, if May-Welby's passport states gender as being one or the other, it is possible that zie might be detained for not fitting what the gender field says sie should look like. This was one of May-Welby's reasons for seeking recognition as gender-neutral.[6] Of hir own sexuality, May-Welby has stated: “I’d be the perfect androgyne if I was completely omnisexual, but I’m only monosexual. Just think of me as a big queen girl.” [11]
Australian ruling on gender
The New South Wales Government recognised May-Welby as being neither male or female - as hormonally, psychologically and physically zie was neither male or female. May-Welby is now referred to as "zie" (rather than she/he) and "hir" (rather than her/him). This comes three years after Australia's foreign minister, Alexander Downer, had secretly and without consultation reversed a policy whereby trans people could obtain a passport stating their "intended sex."[12]
However, the NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages rescinded its promise to supply May-Welby with a registered details certificate that had "not specified" written in the sex box. May-Welby had originally received the certificate the day before Mardi Gras, but then received a phone call from a representative of the agency that said it would be canceled. May-Welby received a formal letter of cancellation on 17 March 2010. In response, May-Welby filed a complaint with the Australian Human Rights Commission and has claimed to the media to be "devastated with the news".[13]
Because May-Welby is a member of the Sex and Gender Education (SAGE), which is a lobby group that supports and campaigns for the gender diverse, the group has pledged to give its full support in trying to help hir reclaim hir certificate.[2][14]
References
- ^ NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages extract
- ^ a b c d "Sex not specified: Australia leads the way with legal document" - The Scavenger
- ^ "I’m not a man... or a woman". Scottish Sun. 15 March 2010. http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/news/2892376/Scottish-born-Australian-is-officially-neither-a-man-or-a-woman.html. Retrieved 15 March 2010.
- ^ a b "No sex for me, please! Ex-transsexual Australian Norrie May-Welby is first legally genderless person" - New York Daily News
- ^ a b "Briton is recognised as world's first officially genderless person" - The Telegraph
- ^ a b "Norrie May-Welby: The World's First Legally Genderless Person" - The Huffington Post
- ^ Jane Fae (11 March 2010). "Australia is first to recognise 'non-specified' gender". Pink News. http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2010/03/11/australia-is-first-to-recognise-non-specified-gender/. Retrieved 14 March 2010. "Pink News: "Australia is first to recognise 'non-specified' gender""
- ^ a b "Norrie, Senza Sesso' ('Norrie, Without Sex')" - Leggo Online
- ^ "Gender Bender laps up zer attention!" - Paisley Daily Express
- ^ 'Audience Show and Tell' - ABC1 Enough Rope, 11 August 2003
- ^ http://www.stevedow.com.au/default.aspx?id=511
- ^ Horin, Adele (31 October 2009). "Transsexual wins apology over passport". The Sydney Morning Herald. http://www.smh.com.au/national/transsexual-wins-apology-over-passport-20091030-hprb.html.
- ^ "Norrie backflip ‘a breach of rights’" - Sydney Star Observer
- ^ "My journey to getting a 'sex not specified' legal document" - The Scavenger
External links
Categories:- 1961 births
- Living people
- People from Paisley
- Scottish emigrants to Australia
- Australian bloggers
- People from Sydney
- LGBT people from Australia
- LGBT people from Scotland
- People from Perth, Western Australia
- Transgender and transsexual people
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
