The Erasure of Sex: The Global Capture of Policies on Sex by Gender Identity Activists and the Effects on The Rights of Women and Girls

Abstract

This article reviews the goals, history, and impact of the new gender identity politics. Based on the Yogyakarta Principles, these new ideas and policies will profoundly affect the rights of women and girls worldwide. The Principles are a document from an international meeting about sexual orientation and gender identity in 2006. In 2017, the document was updated to the Yogyakarta Principles Plus 10. The Principles recommend legal changes by states worldwide, resulting in the erasure of sex as a legal and cultural category. These principles have been widely used to lobby for legal changes resulting in profound structural changes that lead to undermining and eliminating protections for women and girls from sex-based discrimination and state obligations to achieve de facto sex equality. One of the most far-reaching recommendations is “States [national governments] must abolish all legal records of sex from all legal documents, including birth certificates and passports.” These recommendations are being implemented globally, although they have never been discussed or adopted by member states or any international organization, nor were any official women’s organizations consulted. This article was written by a collective of many feminist activists, researchers, and specialist service providers from Europe, Asia, North America, Latin America, and Africa who met every week at the Women’s Declaration International (WDI) sessions. They collected evidence and collaborated on creating this document from 2019 to 2022.