Members of the British Parliament can now be ‘genderless’ after what the Metro newspaper has called a “huge step forward for transgender rights” — where MPs can opt to be sworn in without traditional gender titles.
Previously, Members of Britain’s House of Commons would be sworn in as Mr, Mrs, Miss, or more recently, Ms.
But the rules have changed following Speaker John Bercow’s continued attempts to force his “equality” agenda onto the House.
Bercow, who is best known for his diminutive stature and his gregarious wife, took steps in 2010 to replace the House of Commons bar Bellamy’s with a half million pound creche. He is also the founding president of the LGBT+ parliamentary group called ‘ParliOut’.
Now, due to his actions, MPs can swear an oath to the Queen using the title “Mx” (short for Mixter) which connotes a “non-binary” gender choice, or masks the gender of the person.
A House of Commons spokesman said that the forms were not changed, but one unnamed MP told The Sun that he (or she) had seen it on a form, and claimed: “The suspicion is Speaker John Bercow ordered the change as part of his crusade for equality.”
It is not known whether the form had the Mx title already, or whether it was written in by an MP. The Commons spokesman said they would in fact accept it if someone had written it in themselves.