Netherlands issues its first gender-neutral passport

The Netherlands issued its first ever gender-neutral passport. On Friday 57-year-old Leonne Zeegers from Breda, who as an intersex person does not identify as a man or a woman, received a passport with an 'X', instead of an 'M' for male or 'V' for female, NU.nl reports.

Zeegers won the right to a gender neutral passport in a lawsuit. In May the court ruled that the fact Zeegers can not register as gender neutral is "a violation of private life, self-determination and personal autonomy".

LGBTQ interest organizations are delighted by the result. "This is a personal victory for Leonne", said nonprofit groups NNID, TNN and COC. "It is a wake-up call for the cabinet: make it possible for everyone to delete gender in passports and other official documents." Making it possible to register as a third gender will require a legislative amendment.

Intersex persons have sexual characteristics that are not strictly male or female. According to the interest organizations, around four percent of Dutch do not identify as male or female.