Gender designation and gender identity are huge points of conversation around the world.
This is in part thanks to brave celebrities like Caitlyn Jenner and Laverne Cox sharing their stories and raising the issue and problems like transphobia as something that needs to be addressed. Those conversations are leading to real change.
Now, this 12-month-old Canadian baby could be the first in the world to be government registered with gender ‘unknown’.
This child’s name is Searyl Atli, the baby has been registered for health care with a British Columbia health card marked with a ‘U’ in the space that is usually reserved for gender.
Searyl’s parent, Kori Doty, identifies as a non-binary transgender parent, meaning she identifies as neither male nor female, and wants
Searyl’s gender kept off any records.
Baby Searyl Atli playing in the garden.
“I’m raising Searyl in such a way that until they have the sense of self and command of vocabulary to tell me who they are, I’m recognizing them as a baby and trying to give them all the love and support to be the most whole person that they can be outside of the restrictions that come with the boy box and the girl box,” Doty told CBC news.
“When I was born, doctors looked at my genitals and made assumptions about who I would be, and those assignments followed me and followed my identification throughout my life,” Doty continued.
“Those assumptions were incorrect, and I ended up having to do a lot of adjustments since then.”
When all is said and done Doty is a parent. The child’s happiness is the most important thing in all of this.
“I want my kid to have all of the space to be the most whole and complete person that they can be,” Doty finished.
There are also changes happening closer to home, with the Australian government working towards creating a new gender designation for passports.
