[Blog/Commentary] [Australia] thewest.com.au: Appeal denies transsexuals gender change
Stephanie Stevens
thewest.com.au: Appeal denies transsexuals gender change
by admin on Thursday, 2 September, 2010
IN a summary of the 63-page judgment, the court said Chief Justice
Martin and Justice Pullin took the view that the essential question
was whether the physical characteristics of the two transsexuals,
including their internal and external genitalia, would identify them
as a member of the male gender.
“In their (the majority) view, because each individual possessed
none of the genital and reproductive physical characteristics of a
male, and retained nearly all of the normal external genital
characteristics and the internal reproductive organs of a female, they
would not be identified as males by reference to community standards,
despite the existence of some secondary male physical
characteristics,” the summary said.
[Image <http://bit.ly/beaxvP> / Link
<http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/wa/7869676/appeal-denies-transsexuals-g>
]
The gender reassignment legislation, passed by State Parliament in
1999, allowed certificates to be issued when a person demonstrates a
belief in the gender they have been reassigned, has adopted the
lifestyle and “gender characteristics” [of] that gender and has had
counselling.
During the appeal, lawyer Steven Penglis, representing the
transsexuals, argued that the law did not require people to be sterile
to have their gender reassigned and such a “fundamental and profound”
requirement would have been made clear in the legislation.
But George Tannin, representing the State, said the transsexuals
could not be legally recognised as men while retaining the “capacity”
to have children.
Editorial comment:
THIS has implications for intersex people as well as transsexual
people. The decision effectively demands sterilization and for people
to undergo pointless, dangerous and incredibly expensive surgery with
known lousy outcomes in order to satisfy politicians who have little
to no grasp of natural biological variation.
http://oiiaustralia.com/10952/thewestcomau-appeal-denies-transsexuals-gender-change/