The Gender Identity Bill, passed by Parliament on April 1, leaves much to be desired.

The Bill became law by presidential assent on April 14.

Going through Act XI of 2015 one is perplexed to read that article 7, which applies to all those under the age of 18, lays down that those whose gender had not been declared at birth cannot be addressed as he or she.

What that actually means is that they would be addressed as ‘it’, once the natural sex is not identified on the birth certificate.

The term ‘it’ is also referred to animals because in the English language you do not refer to an animal as he or she.

The minister piloting the Bill failed miserably to clear this matter in the debate in Parliament.

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