A «third sex» in the civil register? Not so fast

Saturday's victory in the Eurovision Song Contest by Swiss artist Nemo, who defines herself as non-binary, has revived the idea of registering a «third gender» in the civil register. In reality, it's a false good idea.

This was Swiss artist Nemo's response to the online medium Le Matin who asked him who he would like to call first after his victory at the 28^th Eurovision contest in Malmö on Saturday evening: «I'd like to make an appointment with Federal Councillor Beat Jans (editor's note: head of the Justice and Police department). I bumped into him once, by chance, at an event. I thought it would be a good opportunity to have a coffee together, because in Switzerland there is no official recognition of the third gender, which I find unacceptable. We need to act to change this, and I believe that political representation is essential for people to feel included and for us to make progress as other countries have done.»

Note the use of the term «gender» and not «sex», while other voices - notably political - have been calling for the inclusion of a «third sex» in the civil register for some years now. This nuance is not at all insignificant. Biology is clear on this point: there are only two sexes in the human species. In genetic terms, too, which is one of the five ways of determining biological sex, there are those with a Y chromosome (men) and those without (women). The Swiss Civil Code stipulates that when a child is born, it must be assigned a gender on the basis of medical findings. No third sex is therefore possible under the current system. Quid now if we're talking about a third gender, like Nemo?

The wealth of the individual

If we replace the notion of sex with that of gender in civil status, and include the possibility of a third gender, we change the software: it's no longer publicly observable characteristics, but feelings, an unobservable feeling, that becomes the criterion for categorization. Yet the gender identity theorized by the social sciences admits of more than just three genders. In addition to non-binarity, there are people who feel both masculine and feminine, others who don't want to choose, still others who say they don't know, or whose gender is fluid. How, then, are we to name «this» third gender, and what provisions are to be made for this category of people in terms of military service obligations, for example, and all the other adaptations that need to be made to laws and the Constitution?

In fact, this case shows us the limits of the quest for official recognition of minorities. Indeed, we might well question the ever-growing desire to expect something from the state, to seek to be defined by the system. An individual's richness, particularly in terms of identity, can never be transcribed into an administrative status. We are all human beings before we are members of this or that community. Rather than focusing on our differences, let's try to tolerate and respect each other.

Write to the author: jonas.follonier@leregardlibre.com

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Debate on this topic at «12h45» on May 17, 2024 with Jonas Follonier: