Scottish-born Aussie wins the right to be called neither a man or a woman in landmark 'gender neutral' court case



Australian high court grants Norrie the right to be neither man or woman



Had gender reassignment surgery in 1989 but stopped taking hormones

Case expected to pave the way for other 'gender neutral' individuals



State's appeal against decision dismissed, ordered to pay Norrie's costs





A Scottish-born man living in Australia has won the right to be legally recognised as neither a man or a woman.

'Norrie', who only goes by their first name, underwent surgery to become a woman but has won the right to be considered 'gender neutral' in a case that could have repercussions around the world.

The Sydneysider had gender reassignment surgery in 1989 but stopped taking hormones and now sees their sex as 'non-specific'.

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Androgynous victory: 'Norrie' won the right to be recognised as neither male nor female. The decision is a first and has similarities to cases before the courts in the US

After a grueling High Court hearing, a panel of judges agreed.



The case was referred to the highest court in the country by the NSW Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages after Norrie applied for a name change and attempted to register as having no gender.



The registrar first granted Norrie's wishes but later reneged.

Norrie challenged the decision and eventually the NSW Court of Appeal found the registrar was legally able to recognise genders other than male and female.



Norrie wanted to be known as neither male or female - and an Australian court agreed that a person should have the right to consider themselves 'gender neutral' in a landmark case worldwide



That finding was challenged by the Registrar and the case moved to the High Court in November last year. A full bench of the court released its historic findings on Wednesday.

'Not all human beings can be classified by sex as either male or female,' the finding reads.



'The question in this appeal is whether it was within the Registrar's power to record in the Register that the sex of the respondent, Norrie, was, as she said in her application, "non-specific". That question should be answered in the affirmative.'

The court ordered the state pay Norrie's appeal costs. 'Not all human beings can be classified by sex as either male or female,' the court found

The court also found that the NSW Anti Discrimination Act 'recognises that a person's sex may be indeterminate'.

They dismissed the appeal of the NSW Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages, ordered them to reconsider Norrie's application 'in accordance with these reasons' and ordered Norrie's costs of appeal to be paid by the Registrar.



It is expected the finding will pave the way for people in NSW and Australia to register as gender neutral.

Landmark: Norrie's lawyers expect the finding will apply to other Australian states with similar legislation

'Many other people let me know they wanted to (identify as non-specific) in Australia and indeed around the world,' Norrie told reporters in Sydney.



'Maybe people will understand there's more options than the binary.'



As the decision was made in Australia's highest court, it is expected to be binding on other Australian states - such as Victoria and Queensland - with similar legislation.



The Scottish-born Norrie underwent sex-change surgery in 1989 but decided to stop taking hormones

The case has similarities with that of Valeria Jones, currently before American courts.

Jones is suing former employee Bon Appetit Management Co, an Oregon catering company, for $518,000.

Jones alleges in a lawsuit that coworkers commonly used female terms when referring to them despite them identifying as gender neutral, The Oregonian reports.



The lawsuit claims Valeria 'cried regularly at work and at home during this time'.

