America’s First Genderless Person

A Portland judge approved a petition from a 27-year-old man to legally change his gender to “genderless.”

In doing so, the petitioner’s name was legally changed to “Patch.” No last name.

Patch also repudiates all pronouns. “Even gender-neutral pronouns don’t feel as if they fit me,” Patch said. “I feel no identity or closeness with any pronouns I’ve come across. What describes me is my name.” (Patch here does use “I,” “me,” and “my.”)

Patch is the first American to have the legal status of being “agender.” And the judge who made the ruling is the first to make being genderless an actual legal category.

From Jillian Kay Melchior, Judge OK’s Petition for America’s First Genderless Person, Heat Street:

A Portland student has become the first American to gain legal designation as “genderless”, following a ruling by a Multnomah County judge.

The March 10 decision, reported for the first time on Thursday, involved a 27-year-old who was born male but claimed to identify with no gender whatsoever. Judge Amy Holmes, who approved the petition, also last year approved a “non-binary” gender designation for another Portland resident.

The 27-year-old formerly known as Patrick Abbatiello, now legally designated agender, also got legal approval to change names, now going only by “Patch,” no surname. That name also serves as a pronoun, Patch explained to the local NBC affiliate this week.

“Even gender-neutral pronouns don’t feel as if they fit me,” Patch said. “I feel no identity or closeness with any pronouns I’ve come across. What describes me is my name.”

[Keep reading. . .]

Photo by Biljana Alampioska, “genderless,” Flickr, Creative Commons License