Third Gender Laws Are Challenging the Biological Binary Around the World The Week
go to original January 22, 2015

Watch The Third Gender - produced, shot and edited by Deborah Bonello for GlobalPost.

The government in Thailand is set to officially recognise a "third gender" category, in a move designed to protect the human rights of people who do not identify with the sex assigned to them at birth.

"We are putting the words 'third gender' in the constitution because Thai society has advanced," a spokesperson told Reuters.

What is the thinking behind a "third gender?

It goes against the belief that gender is binary and falls neatly into two categories. The creation of an official third gender will give people the right to choose not to identify as either male or female.

Several cultures have long acknowledged individuals who "buck the biological binary", according to Foreign Policy. These include the 'hijras' in South Asia, 'kathoeys' in Thailand, and 'muxes' in Mexico. These groups have long faced discrimination and persecution, writes Jake Scobey-Thal, but attitudes – and now laws - are slowly beginning to shift.

"The world, it seems, is slowly embracing an adage once restricted to liberal universities: Gender is a construct, and people should be able to define it for themselves," says Scobey-Thal.

Read the rest at The Week

See related: The 'Transgender Tipping Point': How and Why Attitudes Are Changing

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