Mick Hartley

Why does the BBC pander to this nonsense? Why does anyone pander to this nonsense?

An American who wanted to be formally recognised as non-binary in the UK has been told by the Court of Appeal their gender identity does not legally exist in this country.

Ryan Castellucci previously lost a High Court challenge to have their gender recorded as non-binary on a gender recognition certificate – a document which changes someone's legal sex – after moving to the UK in 2019.

They had obtained legal recognition as non-binary in California in 2021, and were issued an American passport in 2022 listing their sex as 'X'.

But X isn't a sex. Male and female are sexes. You can't just make up sexes – and we don't have to agree with Californian bullshit. And we don't have to use "they" and "them" all the time. It's compelled speech, up with which we should not have to put.

At an earlier hearing, the court heard how Castellucci, a cyber security expert who moved to the UK from California, uses the title "Mx" and refers to themselves using they/them pronouns.

While they have undergone surgery and hormone treatment, they told the court they continue to use the name Ryan as it is considered unisex in the US.

Castellucci described the experience of trying to obtain legal documents listing them as non-binary as an "ordeal" and the court heard they worried about possible difficulties related to their gender identity when applying for British citizenship.

They also raised concerns about how their gender identity would be reflected on their death certificate, when their US documents state they are non-binary….

Non-binary is an umbrella term for those those who do not identify as exclusively male or female.

It makes no sense. He is either male or female, whether he likes it or not. How he presents himself on the other hand – with a handlebar moustache, in a frilly frock, dressed as a giant wombat – is entirely up to him. 

Anna Dews, associate solicitor at Leigh Day, the firm which represented Castellucci, said they were considering appealing the ruling.

She said: "Ryan's only registered gender is non-binary. Despite Parliament legislating for the UK to recognise foreign-acquired genders, the courts have so far ruled that non-binary foreign genders do not count.

"Ryan considers that there cannot be true gender equality without recognition of the fact that not all genders are binary."

Again with the meaningless statements. Not all genders are binary? It's confusing gender and sex, and hoping we don't notice. Gender – which use to be a polite term for talking about someone's sex without those nasty crude associations – now refers to people's presentation of themselves around the concepts of masculinity and femininity. It's cultural, not biological. So of course it's not binary. Admittedly it's something approaching binary in a strict Islamic society like Afghanistan – men in turbans and beards, women hidden away in burkas – but we don't do that. We do more or less whatever we feel like – even men with long hair and a lovely girly head tilt.