Why is it not illegal to require people to report their gender?
October 8, 2015 7:34 PM Subscribe
Why couldn't the law be changed so that it was as illegal to ask someone's gender as it is in some situations to ask about their race, religion, or family status?
(I feel like someone in queer theory must already have made the case that requiring people to report their gender puts them at risk of discrimination, so pardon my fumbling around this issue. I hope someone will bring me up to speed.)
This comes up as I'm reading the article in the latest Bitch Magazine about the challenges faced by trans people as they seek healthcare. Much of the article focuses on the stigma trans folks face from doctors themselves when they need health care. There's also discussion of how insurance providers sometimes refuse to cover procedures when the gender on someone's paperwork doesn't match certain body parts -- the example given is a trans man who might need OB-GYN care.
Much has changed recently in the US, particularly gay marriage being made legal, that does away with old arguments for insisting that people's gender be foregrounded and recorded. Governments don't need to know the gender of people to marry them.
There's ample evidence that women are discriminated against in hiring in fields from math to film directing We don't require people to list their race when they apply to colleges or for business licenses or for unemployment benefits -- reporting is voluntary, to help ensure all populations are equally served. How is listing gender any less likely to introduce bias than listing race?
I can't think of any reason why reporting gender is absolutely necessary to buying an airline ticket, and yet it's a required field when you buy a ticket (and flying is another major moment of anxiety for my trans friends). Not to mention all of the bullshit signup forms for social networks and the questions advertisers ask.
I guess I'm asking the law experts among us: could a case be made for making it illegal to require people to list their gender in order to receive services?
And the historians, (domestic) anthropologists, and sociologists among us: How did we get here? At what points has gender been enshrined as an obligatory passage point?
(I feel like someone in queer theory must already have made the case that requiring people to report their gender puts them at risk of discrimination, so pardon my fumbling around this issue. I hope someone will bring me up to speed.)
This comes up as I'm reading the article in the latest Bitch Magazine about the challenges faced by trans people as they seek healthcare. Much of the article focuses on the stigma trans folks face from doctors themselves when they need health care. There's also discussion of how insurance providers sometimes refuse to cover procedures when the gender on someone's paperwork doesn't match certain body parts -- the example given is a trans man who might need OB-GYN care.
Much has changed recently in the US, particularly gay marriage being made legal, that does away with old arguments for insisting that people's gender be foregrounded and recorded. Governments don't need to know the gender of people to marry them.
There's ample evidence that women are discriminated against in hiring in fields from math to film directing We don't require people to list their race when they apply to colleges or for business licenses or for unemployment benefits -- reporting is voluntary, to help ensure all populations are equally served. How is listing gender any less likely to introduce bias than listing race?
I can't think of any reason why reporting gender is absolutely necessary to buying an airline ticket, and yet it's a required field when you buy a ticket (and flying is another major moment of anxiety for my trans friends). Not to mention all of the bullshit signup forms for social networks and the questions advertisers ask.
I guess I'm asking the law experts among us: could a case be made for making it illegal to require people to list their gender in order to receive services?
And the historians, (domestic) anthropologists, and sociologists among us: How did we get here? At what points has gender been enshrined as an obligatory passage point?
This post was deleted for the following reason: This is overbroad to the point of being chatfilter, sorry. -- restless_nomad
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