Belgium Hiring Public Officials Independently of Their Gender

(Blogmensgo, gay blog of December 23, 2015) The Belgian Selection Office for Public Administration (Selor = Bureau de sélection de l’administration fédérale) is now recruiting public officials independently of their gender. The choice is now: Male (H), female (F) or undecided (X).

In addition to the existing fields for Female (F) and Male (H = Homme), the Belgian government has added a new selection box, namely X. This new choice is meant for persons who identify neither as male nor as female.

The Belgian Selection Office has applied this new rule to all job advertisements since December 18, 2015. Applicants may also choose X as their gender in all online applications.

Introducing this “third gender” in public administration serves a double purpose: Better acceptance of LGBT persons and the fight against sexism.

For one, the administration is trying to “improve acceptance of lesbians, gays, bi- and transsexuals in the workplace through better information and coming-out” which is why the Belgian government has launched a campaign called “All genders welcome.”

On the other hand, they are trying to “avoid prejudices that frequently link a particular job with a certain gender (male or female),” says Equality Secretary Elke Sleurs.

These new guidelines only apply to the Belgian federal government and are not binding for cities, municipalities and the private sector.

Before introducing this administrative “third gender” in 2015, Belgian had already legalized registered partnerships in 2000, same-sex marriage in 2003 and adoption for same-sex couples in 2006.

Frank-S / MensGo
(Via L’Express of December 18, 2015)