Human rights watchdog recognizes third gender in official document

The state-run human rights watchdog is set to add a non-binary gender option in official petition documents in a move to embrace lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) people.

The National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) will be the first government organization to offer a gender-neutral option in official papers.

"After recently receiving a petition urging us to allow a third-gender option in our petition documents, a relevant department reviewed it and reached the conclusion that this was permissible," said an NHRCK official.

"We are now working to change our petition forms to reflect the decision, and new documents will be available within a month."

Currently, those who file petitions with the commission must identify themselves as male, female, transgender male or transgender female in their applications.

"We accepted the petitioner's claim that there could be more than the four genders," the official said.

However, the rights commission is likely to be the lone government body to have the non-binary option for the present because it has no plan to recommend that other state organizations implement it.

"We may discuss whether to recommend the implementation if receiving a relevant petition," the official said.

Plus, the NHRCK is considering expanding the non-binary gender option from petition forms to other documents that require gender identification.

The change comes after a local LGBT community, Trans Liberation Front, took issue with the matter, March 27.

"Even though the NHRCK has options dividing into two genders ― male and female, it does not correspond to its main duty of protecting human rights and dealing with human rights abuse," the group said.

Many LGBT communities have demanded that binary gender classification be abolished worldwide, as they insist that along with biological male and female genders, there are non-binary transgenders alongside transgender males and females.

In many countries, a non-binary gender option allows people to select X as well as male and female for their gender.

Germany, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India, Pakistan and some states in the United States allow people to identify as non-binary on their government documents. The Netherlands and Austria are also considering doing the same.

Despite the commission's landmark decision, Korea still has a long way to go before LGBT people are accepted by the majority of the public.

According to the latest Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) report, Korea was fourth lowest in terms of LGBT inclusivity among member countries surveyed.

In the report, which spanned 2001 to 2014, Korea scored 2.8 points, ahead of Turkey at 1.6, Lithuania at 2 and Latvia at 2.4.

The OECD average was 5.1 points. Japan had 4.8 and the U.S. and Canada logged 5 and 5.7, respectively.

"Korea is lagging behind compared to the OECD average regarding acceptance of homosexuality," the OECD said. "The low acceptance of LGBT people puts them at risk of discrimination."