Sanity prevails in France. On Thursday, the country’s top court of appeals refused to recognize “neutral gender” as a civil service category, dismissing a case filed by a 65-year-old psychotherapist of indeterminate gender.
The claimant, who was assigned male status at birth but was born with indeterminate gender, argued for a “neutral gender” category that would allow him to identify as something other than a man or woman.
A lower court accepted the claim and legally recognized the third gender category. But months after the initial ruling, the nation’s top appeals court reversed the lower’s court decision.
The appeals court made a utilitarian argument, appealing to practicality rather than emotion.
“The duality” of gender as a civil status was “necessary for social and legal organization,” argued the court.
This is the second time a top appeals court has reversed the decision of a lower court, thereby upholding the necessary “duality” of gender.
“In August 2015, a family court in the central French city of Tours accepted a neutral gender category,” notes France 24. “But in March 2016, an appeals court in Orléans rejected the ruling.”