Oscar Davies of Garden Court Chambers has written the article: ‘Language as a Cage and a Tool: Drafting Non-Binary into UK Legislation’, published in Non Binary Identities and the Law (February 2025).
Language as a Cage and a Tool: Drafting Non-Binary into UK Legislation by Oscar Davies has been published in the esteemed GenIUS journal, Italy’s premiere gender and law journal.
This double-blind peer reviewed article explores the ways in which academics and lawyers consider the UK current legal framework as failing to accommodate non-binary identities, and proposes tangible reforms to create a more inclusive system. This particular edition is written by all non-binary academics and lawyers focusing on non-binary recognition internationally.
Oscar Davies presents their argument that non-binary recognition is not merely a symbolic gesture, but a necessary legal and social safeguard. They highlight the real, material consequences of the current legal void – the ways in which non-binary people can face systemic discrimination in healthcare, employment, and legal documentation, often being forced to misgender themselves in official processes. Oscar emphasises that discrimination is not illusory; the absence of legal recognition translates directly into exclusion from rights and protections that binary individuals may take for granted. Without explicit legislative acknowledgment, non-binary people may remain in a precarious legal position, subject to inconsistent and inadequate protections that fail to address their lived realities.
Oscar goes beyond analysis by actively redrafting key pieces of legislation to include non-binary identities, demonstrating how legal texts can be adapted to reflect the lived experiences of all gender identities. They highlight how the absence of explicit non-binary recognition in law can lead to systemic inequalities, and they argue that reliance on case law alone is an inadequate and unstable foundation for securing rights.
The article presents a range of approaches to reform, including the introduction of a third gender marker, the decertification of legal gender, and gradual amendments to existing laws. Through careful legislative redrafting, Oscar offers a potential roadmap for policymakers seeking to implement meaningful change that ensures non-binary people receive full legal recognition and protection.
This work is an essential resource for legal professionals, activists, and, most importantly, those with the power to enact legislative reform.
The desired audience of this article is policymakers and decision-makers, to help them ensure that non-binary rights are enshrined in law, rather than being left to uncertain judicial interpretation. Much of the drafting work has been done by Oscar in the aim that it would help legislators in implementing such change.
