Indian High Court Admits there more than two genders

by fulltimestudent 7 Replies latest social current

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  fulltimestudent

  This is a practical decision - transgendered people have been victimised as much as, perhaps more than, other variant sexualities. And, while not all transgendered people have a variant genetic identification, many do have. There is also a long history of social recognition of a third gender in India.

  Indian top court recognises transgenders in landmark ruling

  CANBERRA TIMES

  Date: April 16, 2014 - 8:37AM

  Delhi: India's top court has recognised the country's long marginalised transgender community as a third gender and, in a landmark judgment lauded by human rights groups, called on the government to ensure their equal treatment.

  There are hundreds of thousands of transgenders in India, say activists, but because they are not legally recognised, they are ostracised, discriminated against, abused and often forced into prostitution.

  "Recognition of transgenders as a third gender is not a social or medical issue but a human rights issue," the Supreme Court's two-judge bench said in its ruling.

  

  An Indian transgender resident dances to celebrate a Supreme Court judgement in Mumbai on April 15. Photo: AFP

  "Transgenders are also citizens of India. The spirit of the constitution is to provide equal opportunity to every citizen to grow and attain their potential, irrespective of caste, religion or gender."

  A person who is transgender does not identify with the gender stated on their birth certificate.

  The court ruling - which came after hearing a petition filed by a group of transgenders demanding equal rights - recognised the community as a marginalised group and directed authorities to implement policies to improve their socioeconomic status.

  

  Transgender activist Laxmi Narayan Tripathi: a great step towards ending discrimination. Photo: AP

  The petitioners' lawyers said that this would mean that all identity documents, including a birth certificate, passport and driving licence would recognise the third gender, along with male and female.

  The government will also have to allocate a certain percentage of public sector jobs, seats in schools and colleges to third gender applicants, said lawyer Sanjeev Bhatnagar.

  Due to their lack of access to jobs and education, many male-to-female transgenders - also known as "hijras" - are forced to work as sex workers or move around in organised groups begging or demanding money.

  Hate crimes in the conservative country are common, say activists, yet few are reported partly due to a lack of sensitivity by authorities such as the police.

  Transgender rights activist Laxmi Narayan Tripathi said the verdict was a great step towards ending such discrimination.

  "Today Justice Radhakrishnan and Justice AK Sikri said that any nation can progress only after it grants all the rights and human rights to its citizens. The transgenders have been given the biggest right," said Tripathi. "Today I feel a proud citizen of India."

  The Supreme Court was slammed by human rights activists in December when it reinstated a ban on gay sex, following a four-year period of decriminalisation that helped bring homosexuality into the open. The court said only parliament could change the law.

  Human rights groups said they hoped the ruling on transgenders would encourage the new parliament to repeal the anti-homosexuality law as one of its first actions.

  India is currently holding general elections with the results due on May 16.

  Reuters

  Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/indian-top-court-recognises-transgenders-in-landmark-ruling-20140416-zqv90.html#ixzz2z10yr7xi
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  fulltimestudent

  Its interesting to understand, just how these laws that affect sexuality and gender came to be inserted into the Indian Law code,

  BBC News, in their coverage of this legal change, inserted a brief background note:

  Geeta Pandey BBC News, Delhi

  Members of the third gender have played a prominent role in Indian culture and were once treated with great respect. They find mention in the ancient Hindu scriptures and were written about in the greatest epics Ramayana and Mahabharata.

  In medieval India too, they played a prominent role in the royal courts of the Mughal emperors and some Hindu rulers. Many of them rose to powerful positions.

  Their fall from grace started in the 18th Century during the British colonial rule when the Criminal Tribes Act of 1871 categorised the entire transgender community as "criminals" who were "addicted" to committing serious crimes. They were arrested for dressing in women's clothing or dancing or playing music in public places, and for indulging in gay sex.

  After Independence, the law was repealed in 1949, but mistrust of the transgender community has continued. Even today, they remain socially excluded, living on the fringes of society, in ghettoised communities, harassed by the police and abused by the public. Most make a living by singing and dancing at weddings or to celebrate child birth, many have moved to begging and prostitution.

  It is hoped that the landmark court ruling will help bring them into the mainstream and improve their lot.

  Reference: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-27031180

  As you see, responsibility for this violation of human rights, is laid at the door of the invading "Christian" British, not native Indians. Its arguable that Christians made the world a worse place.
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  fulltimestudent

  By some interesting co-incidence, the Australian High Court has also recently made a ruling that essentially says there are more than two genders.

  Here's the Australian ABC (State owned News Channel) report:

  Gender ruling: High Court recognises third category of sex

  Updated Thu 3 Apr 2014, 1:42am AEDT

  A Sydney resident who fought to be legally recognised as being of non-specific sex has hailed a High Court ruling that New South Wales laws do permit the registration of a category of sex other than male or female.

  Norrie was born male but had a sex change and now does not identify as specifically male or female.

  After a four-year legal battle, Norrie has won the right to be legally recognised as being of non-specific sex.

  Norrie, who had been quietly confident of winning the case, says the historic verdict is a big win for the wider transgender community.

  "I screamed a squeal of delight. Very loudly. It's very thrilling, very exciting," Norrie said.

  "I'm overjoyed that it has happened. It's important for people to have equal rights in society and if some people are granted the right to have their sex and certain benefits that go along with that, then why shouldn't everyone have that right?

  "Why should people be left out because they're not seen as male or female? They should be recognised as whatever they are and allowed to participate in society at an equal level."

  The case began in 2010 when Norrie applied for a name change and to be registered as being of non-specific sex.

  It's important for people to have equal rights in society and if some people are granted the right to have their sex and certain benefits that go along with that then why shouldn't everyone have that right?

  Norrie

  The registrar at first agreed, but that recognition was revoked, with the registrar arguing it was beyond the power of the law to recognise options other than male or female.

  Norrie went on to challenge the decision and last year the NSW Court of Appeal found the existing law could recognise additional options.

  The registrar turned to the High Court in an attempt to have that decision overturned, but today the court dismissed the appeal.

  It reached the unanimous decision that the law does recognise a person may be neither male nor female.

  The court ordered Norrie's application for registration be remitted to the registrar for determination. The registrar has also been ordered to pay Norrie's legal expenses.

  "By taking it all the way to the High Court, we now have something that's applicable Australia-wide," Norrie said.

  "So it's a great victory for sex and gender diverse people throughout Australia."

  The state's Attorney-General is not commenting on the High Court decision.

  A spokeswoman says the Government is considering the judgement and any legal and policy implications.

  Rights commissioner welcomes decision, Amnesty says more needs to be done

  Human Rights Commissioner Tim Wilson has welcomed the decision.

  "It's quite clear that people who are intersex or transgender face very significant issues, both in the public domain and in the private domain," he said.

  "The key thing is government shouldn't be adding to those issues by discriminating against them and telling them how to live their lives."

  VIDEO: Norrie May tells The Drum the ruling validates her true identity (ABC News)

  But Amnesty International's Senthorun Raj says while the High Court's decision is promising, there is more to be done.

  The court's ruling only applies to someone, like Norrie, who has had what is commonly known as sex reassignment surgery.

  Mr Raj says but it will still be difficult for people who have not had surgery to be able to formally identify as gender-neutral.

  "The concern is obviously that it comes back to showing that you've undertaken medical or surgical treatment that you can demonstrate that you're no longer within a male or female category in order to be considered sex-not-specified," he said.

  "And you also need to be single, so obviously it doesn't really give the same rights to people who can't afford to or don't want to engage in surgical procedures in order to have their sex documentation or gender documentation amended."

  Other states urged to recognise personal identification

  The ACT recently passed a law recognising a third category of sex and the Commonwealth is rolling out a set of guidelines for government departments to also allow similar recognition.

  Wednesday's ruling has been hailed as a victory for the wider transgender and intersex community.

  "The High Court...has set some really important guidance for every other state and territory jurisdiction," said Sam Rutherford from A Gender Agenda.

  "We're very glad for Norrie that a lot of years of determination and probably a lot of stress in taking her fight all the way to the High Court has finally paid off."

  Mr Rutherford says he is confident the progressive ruling will speed up change across the country.

  AUDIO: Sex not just male or female: High Court (The World Today)

  "The High Court is the highest court that we have. They've made very clear indications in their judgement that people of non-binary gender identities are in the community and they need to be recognised legally," he said.

  "It will certainly be difficult for other state legislators not to pay attention to it."

  Mr Rutherford says they are particularly happy with the term "non-specific".

  "The High Court was really clear that [the term] needs to be as inclusive as possible, and anyone that falls outside that male-female binary needs to be recognised and non-specific is the best way to do that," he said.

  "It could be an intersex person, it could be a transgender person, it could be a someone whose identity is neither male or female. But the really important thing is that it is about personal identification by that person, rather than letting the registrar make the decision."

  He says identity recognition is a fundamental human right.

  "This judgement is affirming on a personal level for people," he said.

  "We're seeing more and more people identifying as androgynous or neither male nor female, particularly younger people. So this is going to be really important for them to have this decision as a precedent."

  Reference: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-04-02/high-court-recognises-gender-neutral/5361362
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  fulltimestudent

  I had not realised, until I read the Indian High Court decision, just how far the world has travelled since a few old men got together 2600 to 3000 years ago and wrote, (Genesis 1:27):

  God proceeded to create the man in his image, in God's image he created him; male and female he created them.

  It's very curious wording, isn't it? It says the male was made in God's image, leaving us with the thought that men are in God's image, and begging the question of whether women were meant to be in the image of this minor divinity?

  But on further reading, the puzzle becomes greater. We find Yahweh (or, was it Jesus, as the Logos doing this) removing a bone from the man and then 'forming' a female partner for the man. Essentially, that means, I suppose, (if it means anything) that the 'female' elements were removed from the male.

  What are the things that make a human, female or male. The basic component has to be the X and Y sex chromosones and the consequent hormones that can be produced to order by those sex chromosones.

  Every conceived foetus starts off female (some want to describe that state as neutral) and will commence developing as female (so you can see how gender issues may develop). That in a basic sense means that the mullerian duct which contains female body parts develops and will continue to develop unless stopped in some way. And if the developing child has an X Chromosone, then somewhere around the 8th week that X chromosone starts producing a hormone (MIH or AMH) that will inhibit that mullerian duct.

  But, even so the mullerian duct will always be part of the male body, which simply means that every man has a tiny undeveloped female C**t inside him, which, some women say, explains a lot about the man they married.

  So, if you've been thinking that these court cases mean the Satan is really confusing the world, just stop for a moment and re-think as to how easy it could be for the process of biological sex formation to go way wrong, and the result could be gender confusion.

  Just to try to keep it all simple, check out this short video as overview:

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1Kdoja3hlk&index=8&list=PL616C2DE7B7E51492
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  Satanus

  The world will end, now. Not.

  S
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  fulltimestudent

  Many people conflate biological sex and the socially constructed role of gender expression ( http://www.who.int/gender/whatisgender/en/ ). A confusion that seems most common in areas influenced by Christianity. It is a common view that gender expression automatically follows the God made division between male and female. It was a very common problem in some witness congregations that frowned on women wearing slacks.

  The biological sex division is usually based on whether or not the subject possessed a penis. If the subject did (possess a penis) they were entitled to express a male gender with certain clothing styles, no penis meant that wearing male clothing styles was forbidden to the penisless person. If such a division came into question, the Genesis statement that God created male and female is cited as authority.

  What do we make then (assuming for the moment a divine creation of life) of this life form, where the biological female possesses a penis like organ that penetrates the biological male through a vagina-like opening, in order to 'suck out' the semen of the male? Confusing isn't it? Leads to wonder as to how the Yahweh/Jesus Divinity, with their plan for a rigid male/female binary, managed to stuff up their creative designing on that occasion.

  

  The erectile organ (of the female) is inserted into the male to suck out sperm.

  

  The female is always on top during copulation - which lasts up to 70 hours
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  Listener

  I hope this means that seperate toilets will be provided for them, unfortunately this is in India and just providing a decent toilet is a challenge.
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  fulltimestudent

  Sorry, forgot to post the full article on the above from BBC News.

  Females have penises in sex-reversed cave insects

  By James Morgan Science reporter, BBC News

  Female insects with "penises" have been discovered in Brazil - the first example of an animal with sex-reversed genitalia, scientists say.

  Neotrogla females insert the erectile organs into males' vagina-like openings.

  The elaborate structure, dubbed a "gynosome", is used to suck out sperm and nutritious seminal fluids.

  Copulation lasts an impressive 40-70 hours, the researchers report in Current Biology.

  "Although sex-role reversal has been identified in several different animals, Neotrogla is the only example in which the intromittent organ is also reversed," said lead author Kazunori Yoshizawa from Hokkaido University in Japan.

  The gender-bending insects were found in a cave in eastern Brazil and represent four distinct species in the Neotrogla genus.

  Once inside a male, the membranous part of the female gynosome inflates. It has numerous spines which anchor the two insects together.

  When the researchers attempted to pull a male and female apart, the male's abdomen was ripped from the thorax without breaking the genital coupling.

  The unusual role reversal may have been driven by the resource-poor cave environment in which the bugs live, the researchers speculate.

  Copulation provides a female with food as well as sperm - so it is advantageous for her to mate at a higher rate, they note.

  The curious insects offer new opportunities to test ideas about sexual selection, conflict between the sexes, and the evolution of novelty.

  "It will be important to unveil why, among many sex-role-reversed animals, only Neotrogla evolved the elaborated female penis," said Yoshitaka Kamimura from Keio University in Japan.

  Their first task, they say, is to establish a healthy population of the insects in the lab.

  Reference: http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-27056809