Third gender option added to Australian passports

Australians now have a third option for the "gender" field on their passports. Transgendered people and people of ambiguous gender are allowed to enter "X" for gender, rather than "F" or "M".

An Australian senator, Louise Pratt – whose partner was born female and is now identified as a man – said the reform was a huge step forward.

"There have been very many cases of people being detained at airports by immigration in foreign countries simply because their passports don't reflect what they look like," she told Australian radio.

"It's very distressing, highly inconvenient and frankly sometimes dangerous."

New Australian passports allow third gender option