Identity Documents and Gender Identity: Towards Inclusive Practices

Abstract

In a world increasingly focused on inclusivity, addressing the challenges faced by gender nonconforming and transgender individuals is crucial. Identity documents are meant to represent us, but the current approaches of administrative systems in registering gender do not reflect the existing diverse identities. This not only has policy and legal implications but it also clashes with modern conceptions of human rights and inherent dignity. This paper explores approaches to more inclusive gender identification practices for IDs. Drawing on the framework provided by Wipfler (2016), it examines three strategies: 1) definitional expansion; 2) categorical expansion, and 3) abolition. The definitional expansion approach would expand the understanding of what a man and a woman are, therefore encompassing a wider population. While it would offer more legal protection and affirmation for transgender or gender non-conforming individuals, it reinforces the presumption that registering gender is a necessity and it would still marginalize non-binary people. Categorical expansion refers to adding other sex categories beyond the traditional binary. Some societies have already started implementing this step. Although advantageous, it continues to expect individuals to conform to pre-determined categories that they may not identify with. Abolition advocates for the complete elimination of sex categories in identification, aiming to dismantle discriminatory practices. While this would promote inclusivity, a major drawback is the inability to address existing sexbased discrimination. Thus, this is a promising approach in the long-term, but idealistic in the short-term due to current societal dynamics. A more pragmatic approach combines categorical and definitional expansions of gender.