Netherlands to omit gender section from IDs
The Netherlands government is planning to remove gender from identity documents as of 2024 or 2025.
The discussion around gender omission is one that is revisited from time to time on social media - especially by the LGBTQ community.
While the classification of gender has been a part of all our lives, many feel that it is not a requirement, including Netherlands' Minister of Education, Culture and Science, Ingrid van Engelshoven.
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Engelshoven announced to Parliament that her office will remove the 'gender' field from all forms of IDs beginning 2024 or 2025. In the meantime, one can click/tick a third option, which is a gender registered as "not defined", although one must first file an appeal in court to do so.
This announcement has been welcomed by nonbinary organisations who believe that the removal of gender liberates those who've always believed that the gender field was unnecessary or uncomfortable to fill.
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By doing away with gender indication, the Netherlands joins countries such as Germany who made this decision in 2018. Passports or identity documents in countries such as Australia, Nepal, and Canada have already introduced gender 'X'.
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IMAGE CREDIT: Pexels/Magda Ehlers