Legal protections for LGBTQ+ folks vary from state to state, much as in the U.S.; for example, New South Wales, Queensland, Tasmania, and Australian Capital Territory have enacted laws prohibiting inciting violence based on sexual orientation. The same goes for the process by which trans individuals can change their legal gender marker. Tasmania allows people to change the gender on their birth certificate by making a declaration, while the more populous New South Wales requires verification of surgery, making it harder for trans folks to get legal gender recognition. Along with male and female, Australia has offered a third gender option on birth certificates and passports since 2013, but this is not accessible to everyone. ”To change your passport, you use your birth certificate, and on your passport you can opt for an X marker. But the X markers are provided by certain states, but not by all states,” ILGA’s Gender Identity and Gender Expression Programme Coordinator Zhan Chiam points out. “There’s a general inconsistency in Australia in relation to the gender markers on their birth certificates, as well as what people are able to access on their passports.”