A prominent campaigner and activist has today lost a 25-year battle against the UK government over not allowing gender neutral passports.
After having spent over two decades campaigning to achieve legal and social recognition for non-gendered identity, Christie Elan-Cane – who personally identifies as non-gendered – has said that requiring people to say if they are male or female on application forms breaches human rights laws, and so, brought a case to the UK’s highest court in the latest round of a legal battle for ‘X’ passports.
Challenging the policy administered by Her Majesty’s Passport Office (HMPO), Elan-Cane argued that the application process requiring individuals to indicate their gender is unlawful.
However in a judgment this morning, the Supreme Court unanimously dismissed the appeal.
The President of the Supreme Court, Lord Reed, found that Elan-Cane’s interest in being issued with an ‘X’ passport was “outweighed” by other considerations – including “maintaining a coherent approach across government” as to what genders are recognised.
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Judgment has been handed down this morning in the case of R (on the application of Elan-Cane) (Appellant) v Secretary of State for the Home Department (Respondent) – UKSC 2020/0081https://t.co/lyXSlPELCipic.twitter.com/uvrIG3R5fo
Lord Reed said in the ruling: “The form is concerned with the applicants’ gender as a biographical detail which can be used to confirm their identity by checking it against the birth, adoption or gender recognition certificates provided and other official records [and] it is therefore the gender recognised for legal purposes and recorded in those documents which is relevant.”
He continued: “There is no legislation in the United Kingdom which recognises a non-gendered category of individuals.
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“On the contrary, legislation across the statute book assumes that all individuals can be categorised as belonging to one of two sexes or genders, terms which have been used interchangeably.”
Back in March 2020, appeal court judges ruled the right for a gender neutral passport was “beyond argument” – but said government did not breach the law.
Following today’s ruling, Elan-Cane tweeted: “The UK government and judicial system are on the wrong side of history.
“This is not the end – we are going to Strasbourg.”
The French city of Strasbourg, as referred to by Elan-Cane, is home to the European Court of Human Rights – which Britain is still a member of – and if this action goes ahead, it is said that it would allow “more scope” on how to interpret rulings and legislation.
High School Musical at Lowry, Salford – a night spent reliving our childhood | Review
Amy Williams
What a night spent reliving our childhood.
Now, I don’t want to exaggerate or seem biased, considering this is one of my favourite film trilogies of all time, but this could be the best stage show I’ve seen in a long while.
We all know how High School Musical goes, right? Set at East High, we follow Troy and Gabriella (the star basketball player, and the geeky new girl) who meet over New Year, and then become ‘star-crossed lovers’ when back at school as they’re part of two different ‘cliques’.
The duo mess with the ‘Status Quo’ when they audition for the school musical. But will they stick to what they know? Or become stars of the stage? I’m sure you know the ending.
High School Musical is currently on stage at Lowry, Salford / Credit: Matt Crockett (Supplied)
From the costumes and the characters, to the memorable songs (there’s actually 52 songs in this production, including a mega mix at the end), they’ve kept right to the script of the films – and that’s exactly what we wanted to see.
Of course, the biggest throwback of them all is Kaycee Stroh – who originally featured as Martha Cox in the film trilogy – taking the role as Ms Darbus, and she was just as incredible as we expected her to be. And to see her do the iconic dance in the finale was unbelievable, 13-year-old Amy was screaming.
Also featuring Jason Donovan as Coach Bolton, Tobias Turley as Troy, Leonor Correia as Gabriella, Caitlin Tipping Sharpay, and Luke Bayer as Ryan, it was a proper impressive cast all round.
It’s a night to properly relive your mid-00s childhood / Credit: Matt Crockett (Supplied)
There was crowd interaction right from the off, as they taught the crowd a cheerleading routine to be included later in the show, plus for the finale, they had the lyrics on the big screen too so everyone could sing-along.
If we could go and see this show every single night, we would – it is absolutely brilliant.
Fontaines D.C. announce massive return to Manchester on new European tour
Daisy Jackson
Fontaines D.C. have just announced their biggest headline tour to date, including a massive arena gig here in Manchester.
The wildly popular Irish rock band are set to play a whopping 20 arena shows across Europe and the UK this autumn.
The tour has been announced in celebration of their upcoming fifth studio album, Dopamine Chamber, which is set for release this October.
Fontaines D.C. will hit the road just five days after the album drops, kicking off their European tour in Lisbon on 21 October.
Then they’ll make their way over to the UK, with shows in Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool, Glasgow, Birmingham and London.
Fans in their home country of Ireland are told to stay tuned for live news very soon.
As we speak, Fontaines D.C. are warming up to play one of the country’s biggest festivals, with headline slots at Reading & Leeds Festival.
They’ve already released Marianne, the first single from their new album, and frontman Grian Chatten says of the album: “The album itself is a dopamine chamber. You step inside and we test these different mind- or mood-altering pieces of music on you.”
The new record has been recorded between London, the English countryside, and Palermo, where Chatten recorded vocals in a makeshift booth built from mattresses and cushions.
He said: “There’s a poignant sense of us being on the brink of some other kind of form of humanity, or non-humanity.”
Tickets will go on general sale at 10am on Thursday 3 September, with pre-sale live from 10am on Tuesday 1 September.
You can access tickets for Fontaines D.C. in Manchester HERE.
Fans who pre-order Dopamine Chamber from the official store by 6pm on Monday 31 August will gain access to the UK pre-sale.
Fontaines D.C. UK tour dates in full
Friday 20 November – Liverpool, UK – M&S Bank Arena
Saturday 21 November – Manchester, UK – AO Arena
Sunday 22 November – Glasgow, UK – OVO Hydro
Tuesday 24 November – Leeds, UK – First Direct Bank Arena
Wednesday 25 November – Birmingham, UK – Utilita Arena
The Manc -
15th December 2021 
