The Canadian Ministry of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship announced the addition of a new gender designation, ‘X’, in the passport for those who don’t identify as male or female. Canadian citizens who do not identify as male or female will be able to mark “X” on their passports and other identity documents from Aug 31, the government said Thursday.
“By introducing an “X” gender designation in our government-issued documents, we are taking an important step towards advancing equality for all Canadians regardless of gender identity or expression,” Minister Ahmed Hussen said in a statement.
From August 31, citizens will be able to add an “observation” to their passports stating their sex should be “identified as ‘X’, indicating it is unspecified,” the government said in a statement. The move will help Canadians have documents that “better reflect their gender identity,” it said.
The initiative stems from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s promise to better reflect the gender diversity of Canadians.
Earlier, Canada had passed a law adding “gender identity and expression” alongside race, religion, age, sex and sexual orientation among prohibited grounds of discrimination under the Canadian Human Rights Act.
