Norrie May-Welby
Encyclopedia
Norrie May-Welby also known as norrie mAy-Welby, is a Scottish-Australian who became the first person in the world officially declared to be neither a man nor a woman, making Australia
the first country in the world to recognise a 'non-specified' gender
.
, Renfrewshire
, Scotland
as a male and moved to Perth, Western Australia
at the age of seven. May-Welby underwent male-to-female reassignment surgery on 3 April 1989, but later found that being a woman was not what zie
felt like either. May-Welby moved to Sydney
, New South Wales
in the early 1990s, after a highly publicized court case in Perth. Doctors stated, in January 2010, that May-Welby was a neuter, neither male nor female, as hir
psychological self-image was as a neuter, hir hormones were not the same as a male or female's, and zie had no sex organs.
One of May-Welby's worries about being labeled male or female is that zie now looks like neither and is physically neither as well. Because of this, if May-Welby's passport states gender as being one or the other, it is possible that zie might be detained for not fitting what the gender field says sie should look like. This was one of May-Welby's reasons for seeking recognition as gender-neutral. Of hir own sexuality, May-Welby has stated: “I’d be the perfect androgyne if I was completely omnisexual, but I’m only monosexual. Just think of me as a big queen girl.”
" (rather than she/he) and "hir
" (rather than her/him). This comes three years after Australia's foreign minister, Alexander Downer
, had secretly and without consultation reversed a policy whereby trans people could obtain a passport stating their "intended sex."
However, the NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages rescinded its promise to supply May-Welby with a registered details certificate that had "not specified" written in the sex box. May-Welby had originally received the certificate the day before Mardi Gras
, but then received a phone call from a representative of the agency that said it would be canceled. May-Welby received a formal letter of cancellation on 17 March 2010. In response, May-Welby filed a complaint with the Australian Human Rights Commission and has claimed to the media to be "devastated with the news".
Because May-Welby is a member of the Sex and Gender Education (SAGE), which is a lobby group that supports and campaigns for the gender diverse, the group has pledged to give its full support in trying to help hir reclaim hir certificate.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
the first country in the world to recognise a 'non-specified' gender
Gender
Gender is a range of characteristics used to distinguish between males and females, particularly in the cases of men and women and the masculine and feminine attributes assigned to them. Depending on the context, the discriminating characteristics vary from sex to social role to gender identity...
.
History
May-Welby was born in PaisleyPaisley
Paisley is the largest town in the historic county of Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland and serves as the administrative centre for the Renfrewshire council area...
, Renfrewshire
Renfrewshire (historic)
Renfrewshire or the County of Renfrew is a registration county, the Lieutenancy area of the Lord Lieutenant of Renfrewshire, and one of the counties of Scotland used for local government until 1975. Renfrewshire is located in the West Central Lowlands of Scotland, south of the River Clyde,...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
as a male and moved to Perth, Western Australia
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
at the age of seven. May-Welby underwent male-to-female reassignment surgery on 3 April 1989, but later found that being a woman was not what zie
Gender-neutral pronoun
A gender-neutral pronoun is a pronoun that is not associated with any gender. It designates two distinct grammatical phenomena, the first being pronouns/periphrastics that have been assigned nontraditional meanings in modern times out of a concern for gender equity, and the second being genderless...
felt like either. May-Welby moved to Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
in the early 1990s, after a highly publicized court case in Perth. Doctors stated, in January 2010, that May-Welby was a neuter, neither male nor female, as hir
Gender-neutral pronoun
A gender-neutral pronoun is a pronoun that is not associated with any gender. It designates two distinct grammatical phenomena, the first being pronouns/periphrastics that have been assigned nontraditional meanings in modern times out of a concern for gender equity, and the second being genderless...
psychological self-image was as a neuter, hir hormones were not the same as a male or female's, and zie had no sex organs.
One of May-Welby's worries about being labeled male or female is that zie now looks like neither and is physically neither as well. Because of this, if May-Welby's passport states gender as being one or the other, it is possible that zie might be detained for not fitting what the gender field says sie should look like. This was one of May-Welby's reasons for seeking recognition as gender-neutral. Of hir own sexuality, May-Welby has stated: “I’d be the perfect androgyne if I was completely omnisexual, but I’m only monosexual. Just think of me as a big queen girl.”
Australian ruling on gender
The New South Wales Government recognised May-Welby as being neither male or female - as hormonally, psychologically and physically zie was neither male or female. May-Welby is now referred to as "zieGender-neutral pronoun
A gender-neutral pronoun is a pronoun that is not associated with any gender. It designates two distinct grammatical phenomena, the first being pronouns/periphrastics that have been assigned nontraditional meanings in modern times out of a concern for gender equity, and the second being genderless...
" (rather than she/he) and "hir
Gender-neutral pronoun
A gender-neutral pronoun is a pronoun that is not associated with any gender. It designates two distinct grammatical phenomena, the first being pronouns/periphrastics that have been assigned nontraditional meanings in modern times out of a concern for gender equity, and the second being genderless...
" (rather than her/him). This comes three years after Australia's foreign minister, Alexander Downer
Alexander Downer
Alexander John Gosse Downer is a former Australian Liberal Party politician who was Foreign Minister of Australia from March 1996 to December 2007, the longest-serving in Australian history...
, had secretly and without consultation reversed a policy whereby trans people could obtain a passport stating their "intended sex."
However, the NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages rescinded its promise to supply May-Welby with a registered details certificate that had "not specified" written in the sex box. May-Welby had originally received the certificate the day before Mardi Gras
Mardi Gras
The terms "Mardi Gras" , "Mardi Gras season", and "Carnival season", in English, refer to events of the Carnival celebrations, beginning on or after Epiphany and culminating on the day before Ash Wednesday...
, but then received a phone call from a representative of the agency that said it would be canceled. May-Welby received a formal letter of cancellation on 17 March 2010. In response, May-Welby filed a complaint with the Australian Human Rights Commission and has claimed to the media to be "devastated with the news".
Because May-Welby is a member of the Sex and Gender Education (SAGE), which is a lobby group that supports and campaigns for the gender diverse, the group has pledged to give its full support in trying to help hir reclaim hir certificate.