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🇧🇪 Belgium becomes the first country to remove the indication of male or female sex on identity cards

By EMMANUELLE BOURDY for The Epoch Times

To satisfy people who define themselves as “non-binary”, Belgium is now offering gender-neutral identity cards.

Belgium is the first country to offer two types of identity card. As announced on Wednesday by Belgian Interior Minister Bernard Quintin, identity cards will no longer be able to state a person's gender, reports the Dutch-language Belgian daily Nieuwsblad. This measure, which was taken to satisfy LGBT associations, failed to achieve its objective and even had the opposite effect. As for the more conservative, they see it as a way of erasing biological reality.

But an “express and formal request” is required

Some countries have opted to add a third gender option to identity cards for non-binary people. This is the case in Germany, Malta and Canada, where the “X” option is available. But Belgium has not followed suit, preferring to opt for a second version of this official document in which nothing is written about gender.

As a result, Belgian citizens will have the choice of entering “M” for male, “F” for female, or nothing at all. Those wishing to opt for the latter version will have to make an “express and formal request” beforehand, and “opt to have their gender removed from their identity card”, as specified by the Belgian Minister of the Interior. Because if this request has not been made, the gender listed on the civil status as M or F will be assigned by default.

LGBT community associations dissatisfied

Despite this step taken towards the LGBT community, the community remains dissatisfied. "This is absolutely not a solution," the Çavaria association stated in the columns of the Virgule media outlet, which, through Thomas Jans, added: "The choice remains limited to 'M' or 'F', nothing changes. The only option will be to hide this information on the identity card." For the association, this represents a lack of inclusivity.

Remus Verwimp—of the Wel Jong association, which advocates for the interests of Flemish LGBTI+ youth—stressed to Virgule that "state recognition doesn't just concern identity cards," stating: "Today, school administrators explain to students that they must identify as 'M' or 'F', because no other option is legal. A third official option would support the demands of non-binary students in schools, where they are currently forced to choose between a boy or girl symbol on Smartschool."

For Erynn Robert—who coordinates the Prisme federation, which brings together LGBTQIA+ associations in Wallonia—this proposal "goes against" her demands, as reported by RTBF Actus. "If all Belgian citizens had an identity card without a gender marker, there would be no possible discrimination," he explained, recalling that this option of removing all gender markers had been considered by the previous government "but was blocked by the MR at the time." "If it were used in certain countries that are very resistant to LGBT rights, like Hungary, for example, it could be a problem," the Prisme federation further pointed out.

"Gender remains a key element in the identification of citizens."

As for defenders of traditional values, they denounced this measure as a sign of wokeism. One lawyer wondered how a person could be clearly identified in a court or hospital "if their gender is no longer indicated," reports Frontières. Similarly, a Flemish right-wing MP emphasized that "removing gender from identity cards would open the door to a society where fundamental reference points are disappearing." Internet users also questioned the impact of such an option on identity checks and administrative procedures, particularly internationally.

Interior Minister Bernard Quintin emphasized that "gender remains a key element in the identification of citizens. It is therefore important that it appear by default on identity cards."