#GenderX linkspam
Sep. 20th, 2011 09:27 amIn addition to the gender markers "M" and "F", international standards allow for the marker "X" to be used in both human- and machine-readable sections of passports. Use of this option seems to be gathering momentum at the moment, and thanks to Australia's recent adoption public awareness is currently high. What that X actually means is, however, quite variable. Here's a summary of the situation as I understand it, presented in the form of a linkspam.
Australasia
India
UK
(Thanks to Nat at Practical Androgyny for ferretting out several of the UK-related links!)
Australasia
-  New Australian passports allow third gender option (BBC) 
 -  The official policy (Australian government). Here X means "indeterminate/unspecified/intersex" and "[a] letter from a medical practitioner certifying that the person [...] [is] intersex and do not identify with the sex assigned to them at birth, is acceptable." To their credit the policy does use singular they - but overall this isn't much good for non-binary people
 -  Zoe has a nice clear summary of who will be affected and how
 - New Zealand also offers gender X, but not for intersex people [content warning for degendering]
 
India
- In India the third gender option is displayed in the human-readable section of the passport as E (apparently for eunuch). I'm not clear on the usage or availability but I understand it is intended for use by hijra.
 
UK
-  The UK Home Office is considering introducing gender-neutral passports (Pink News; no official sources yet)...
 - ... and how best to implement this (analysis, Jane Fae). 
 -  A discussion of the background can be found on Facebook 
 -  Zoe suggests a wide-ranging consultation may be held
 - Previously by Zoe: a Freedom of Information request about gender X markers
 
(Thanks to Nat at Practical Androgyny for ferretting out several of the UK-related links!)