title: Legal recognition of non-binary gender

text: Government policy between 2003 and 2011 was to issue passports with an 'X' marker to persons who could "present a birth certificate that notes their sex as indeterminate". In 2011, the Australian Passport Office introduced new guidelines for issuing of passports with a new gender, and broadened availability of an X descriptor to all individuals with documented "indeterminate" sex. The revised policy stated that "sex reassignment surgery is not a prerequisite to issue a passport in a new gender. Birth or citizenship certificates do not need to be amended."


title: Legal recognition of non-binary gender

text: Australian Commonwealth guidelines on the recognition of sex and gender, published in June 2013, extended the use of an 'X' gender marker to any adult who chooses that option, in all dealings with the Commonwealth government and its agencies. The option is being introduced over a three-year period. The guidelines also clarify that the federal government collects data on gender, rather than sex. In March 2014, the Australian Capital Territory introduced an 'X' classification for birth certificates.


title: Legal recognition of non-binary gender

text: Norrie May-Welby is popularly – but erroneously – often regarded as the first person in the world to obtain officially indeterminate, unspecified or "genderless" status. May-Welby became the first transsexual person in Australia to pursue a legal status of neither a man nor a woman, in 2010. In April 2014, the High Court of Australia ruled that NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages must record in the register that the sex of May-Welby is "non-specific". The Court found that sex affirmation "surgery did not resolve her sexual ambiguity".


title: Legal recognition of non-binary gender

text: An alliance of organizations including the National LGBTI Health Alliance, Organisation Intersex International Australia and Transgender Victoria has called for X to be redefined as non-binary.


title: Legal recognition of non-binary gender

text: In March 2017, an Australian and Aotearoa/New Zealand community statement called for an end to legal classification of sex, stating that legal third classifications, like binary classifications, were based on structural violence and failed to respect diversity and a "right to self-determination".


title: Legal recognition of non-binary gender

text: In April 2019, Tasmania became the first state or territory in Australia to make sex or gender identifiers in birth certificates optional and providing for official definitions for 'sex' and 'gender' (only 'sex' was defined before the reforms). The reform was legislated by a non-government coalition of MPs and adopted a 'opt-in' model for sex identification on birth certificates. However, a binary classification of sex (male or female, with no intersex/unspecified option) is still collected for medical purposes. Children born with ambiguous genitalia are given an additional 60 days to choose a sex for registration. The child's sex will be displayed on the birth certificate only if the parents choose to opt-in. The same reforms also allowed persons over the age of 16 to change their gender identity on official documentation – without a sex reassignment surgery or hormone replacement therapy – by providing a gender declaration.


title: Legal recognition of non-binary gender

text: In June 2019, the Constitutional Court of Belgium struck down certain parts of the country's 2017 transgender law. The proceedings against the law were initiated by LGBT rights organizations, who argued that the law still discriminated against people with a non-binary or genderfluid identity, because it still only allowed people to register as either "male" or "female". The Constitutional Court agreed with the action brought against the law, and found the contested provisions to be discriminatory and therefore unconstitutional. Though the Court suggested a few ways in which to remedy the unconstitutional aspects, such as "the creation of one or more additional categories" or "the possibility to remove the registration of sex or gender as an element of a person's civil status", it also stressed that the responsibility to remediate the law's shortcomings remained with the legislature.


title: Legal recognition of non-binary gender

text: The De Croo Government, Belgium's federal government which took office in October 2020, announced plans to introduce the possibility to register under the gender identifier "X", in order to address the judgment of the Constitutional Court. This was expressed by the new minister of Justice in the De Croo Government, Vincent Van Quickenborne, in November 2020. This proposition was rejected in favor of erasing any mention of gender on identity cards (which appeared in 2003), while the National Registry will still mention the assigned gender at birth. The law will be effective in 2022.


title: Legal recognition of non-binary gender

text: There is no recognition of a third gender option nationwide, but since 2020 non-binary people have been getting court authorizations to register their sex as "unspecified", "non-identified" or "non-binary" in the civil registry and since 2022, for purposes of filling out the identity card, the sex field must follow the ICAO standard, with 1 character, M, F or X.


title: Legal recognition of non-binary gender

text: While requesting a new passport, Brazilians are able to select an unspecified sex, however it is not known since when there's this option.


title: Legal recognition of non-binary gender

text: Since 12 September 2021, by decision of the National Justice Council, notaries must register intersex children with the sex ignored on birth certificates.


title: Legal recognition of non-binary gender

text: The state of Rio de Janeiro, thanks to the work of the State Public Defender's Office, has been allowing non-binary people to register their birth certificates and identity cards with the "non-binary" gender in gender-neutral language.


title: Legal recognition of non-binary gender

text: On April 22, 2022, Rio Grande do Sul Justice assured non-binary people to change their first name and sex in their birth record, according to their self-perceived identity, regardless of judicial authorization, allowing include the expression "non-binary" in the sex field upon a request made by the interested party to a notary's office.


title: Legal recognition of non-binary gender

text: In May 9, 2022, Bahia Justice publishes provision allowing the inclusion of “non-binary” gender in the Civil Registry.


title: Legal recognition of non-binary gender

text: In June 2016, the government of the province of Ontario announced changes to the way gender will be displayed on health cards and driver's licenses. Starting June 13, the Ontario health card no longer displays a sex designation. In early 2017, Ontario drivers will have the option to display "X" as a gender identifier on their driver's licenses.


title: Legal recognition of non-binary gender

text: In April 2017, a baby born in British Columbia, Searyl Atli Doty, became the first in the world known to be issued a health card with a gender-neutral "U" sex marker. The parent, Kori Doty, who is non-binary transgender, wanted to give the child the opportunity to discover their own gender identity. The province has refused to issue a birth certificate to the child without specifying a gender; Doty has filed a legal challenge. Doty and seven other transgender and intersex people have filed a human rights complaint against the province, alleging that publishing gender markers on birth certificates is discriminatory.


title: Legal recognition of non-binary gender

text: In July 2017, the Northwest Territories began allowing "X" as a non-binary option on birth certificates.


title: Legal recognition of non-binary gender

text: On August 31, 2017, the federal government began allowing an observation to be added to passports requesting that the holder's gender should be read as "X", indicating that it is unspecified, though a gender of "M" or "F" had to be added as a gender for an undefined period to comply with legal requirements of other countries. In June 2019, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada announced that non-binary people may also apply to have an "X" gender marker.


title: Legal recognition of non-binary gender

text: A ruling of the Third Family Court of Santiago, issued on April 25, 2022, ordered the Civil Registry and Identification Service to register a 17-year-old adolescent with non-binary gender on the birth certificate, being the first judicial resolution of its kind in the country. On May 25, 2022, the First Civil Court of Santiago issued a ruling recognizing an adult person as non-binary and ordering the Civil Registry to rectify the birth certificate, in which the marker "X" will appear instead of " female or male." On October 14, 2022, the Civil Registry officially issued to Shane Cienfuegos the first non-binary identity card with the marker "X" in the country. In July 2022, the Thirteenth Chamber of the Santiago Court of Appeals had ruled in favor of the request to rectify the birth certificate to recognize non-binary gender identity.


title: Legal recognition of non-binary gender

text: In February 2022, the Constitutional Court of Colombia ruled that a non-binary person was entitled to a birth certificate from the Ninth Notary of Medellín and citizen's identity card from the National Civil Registry with the marker "no binario" or "NB" in the sex field on both. The court also ordered the Colombian government to facilitate the inclusion of such a marker on identity documents and ordered the Congress to amend laws as needed to facilitate legal recognition of non-binary individuals' rights.


title: Legal recognition of non-binary gender

text: According to comment by Transgender Europe, Danish citizens (including Greenlandic- and Faroese nationals) have been issued passport with option 'X' upon application, without medical requirements. However, it follows from the Danish Passport Regulations that persons with even personal identification numbers receive the gender marker "F" and persons with odd personal identification numbers the gender marker "M" (§ 4(4)), with the only exception that persons who have not (yet) had an official gender change but to whom the National Hospital's Sexological Clinic has certified that they are transsexual can obtain the gender marker "X" (§ 4(5)). Accordingly, legal gender remains binary in Denmark (including Greenland and the Faroe Islands) and only transsexual people without a legal gender change can obtain an X marker in their passport.


title: Legal recognition of non-binary gender

text: Germany is thought to be the first European country that recognizes "indeterminate" sex on birth certificates, which is materialized by the absence of any gender marker, from November 2013. A report by the German Ethics Council stated that the law was passed because "Many people who were subjected to a 'normalizing' operation in their childhood have later felt it to have been a mutilation and would never have agreed to it as adults." Deutsche Welle reported that an "indeterminate" 'option' was made available for the birth certificates of intersex infants with ambiguous genitalia on 1 November 2013. The move is controversial with many intersex advocates in Germany and elsewhere suggesting that it might encourage surgical interventions, or simply fails to address the key health concerns of intersex people. On 21 January 2015, the Celle Court of Appeals confirmed in a judgment that intersex people cannot obtain a gender marker other than "female" or "male" in their birth certificate, but only the absence of any such marker. The court held at the same time that even an adult intersex person who was registered with a gender marker at birth can obtain the deletion of that gender marker. This judgment was sent for review by the Federal Court of Justice.


title: Legal recognition of non-binary gender

text: On 8 November 2017, the Federal Constitutional Court released a press statement about its ruling from 10 October 2017, which is in favour of a positive third gender option instead of no entry. On 15 August 2018, the German government approved a draft law allowing a third gender option on birth certificates for babies who are not distinctly male or female. On 22 December 2018, the adopted third gender law entered into force, allowing the choice for intersex people (both at birth and at a later age) between "female", "male", "diverse" and no gender marker at all. In case of a change later in life, first names can also be changed. To change the marker and/or names according to this law, a doctor's note is required, but it is not specified what kind of "variance of gender development" is required for the law. As such, non-intersex non-binary people have made use of this law to change their markers and names as personally trusted doctors approve and give out such a required note nevertheless. In the meantime, an appeals court had held that a nonbinary status must also be open to non-intersex non-binary people; the adopted act does not address this category of people and their situation therefore first remained unclear pending additional case-law. On 22 April 2020, the Federal Court of Justice ruled that in order to obtain nonbinary status, these persons must follow the procedure set out in the legislation on transsexuality which applies by analogy, after which they can also choose between "diverse" and no gender marker at all.


title: Legal recognition of non-binary gender

text: In June 2019, the Icelandic Parliament voted 45–0 on a bill to implement a progressive "self-determination gender change model law", similar to numerous European and South American countries. The bill includes a third gender option known as "X" on official documents. The law went into effect on 1 January 2020.


title: Legal recognition of non-binary gender

text: The Hijra of India are probably the most well known and populous third sex type in the modern world – Mumbai-based community health organization The Humsafar Trust estimates there are between 5 and 6 million hijras in India. In different areas they are known as Aravani/Aruvani or Jogappa. Often (somewhat misleadingly) called eunuchs in English, they may be born intersex or apparently male, dress in feminine clothes and generally see themselves as neither men nor women. Only eight percent of hijras visiting Humsafar clinics are "nirwaan" (castrated). Indian photographer Dayanita Singh writes about her friendship with a Hijra, Mona Ahmed, and their two different societies' beliefs about gender: "When I once asked her if she would like to go to Singapore for a sex change operation, she told me, 'You really do not understand. I am the third sex, not a man trying to be a woman. It is your society's problem that you only recognize two sexes.'" Hijra social movements have campaigned for recognition as a third sex, and in 2005, Indian passport application forms were updated with three gender options: M, F, and E (for male, female, and eunuch, respectively). Some Indian languages such as Sanskrit have three gender ‘options’— specifically masculine, feminine and neuter forms of nouns.


title: Legal recognition of non-binary gender

text: In November 2009, India agreed to list eunuchs and transgender people as "others", distinct from males and females, in voting rolls and voter identity cards. On April 15, 2014, the Supreme Court of India recognized a third gender that is neither male nor female, and as a class entitled to reservation in education and jobs, stating "Recognition of transgenders as a third gender is not a social or medical issue but a human rights issue." This verdict made India one of the few countries to give this landmark judgment.


title: Legal recognition of non-binary gender

text: In addition to the feminine role of hijras, which is widespread across the subcontinent, a few occurrences of institutionalized "female masculinity" have been noted in modern India. Among the Gaddhi in the foothills of the Himalayas, some girls adopt a role as a "sadhin", renouncing marriage, and dressing and working as men, but retaining female names and pronouns. A late-nineteenth century anthropologist noted the existence of a similar role in Madras, that of the "basivi". However, historian Walter Penrose concludes that in both cases "their status is perhaps more 'transgendered' than 'third-gendered.'"


title: Legal recognition of non-binary gender

text: In April 2014, Justice KS Radhakrishnan, of Supreme Court of India declared transgender to be the third gender in Indian law, in a case brought by the National Legal Services Authority (Nalsa) against Union of India and others. The ruling said:


title: Legal recognition of non-binary gender

text: Seldom, our society realizes or cares to realize the trauma, agony and pain which the members of Transgender community undergo, nor appreciates the innate feelings of the members of the Transgender community, especially of those whose mind and body disown their biological sex. Our society often ridicules and abuses the Transgender community and in public places like railway stations, bus stands, schools, workplaces, malls, theatres, hospitals, they are sidelined and treated as untouchables, forgetting the fact that the moral failure lies in the society's unwillingness to contain or embrace different gender identities and expressions, a mindset which we have to change.


title: Legal recognition of non-binary gender

text: Justice Radhakrishnan said that transgender people should be treated consistently with other minorities under the law, enabling them to access jobs, healthcare and education. He framed the issue as one of human rights, saying that, "These TGs, even though insignificant in numbers, are still human beings and therefore they have every right to enjoy their human rights", concluding by declaring that:


title: Legal recognition of non-binary gender

text: In May 2018, Leonne Zeegers was the first Dutch citizen to receive the "X" marked gender on the passport instead of "male" or "female" (see photo of the person's passport here). Leonne, then 57, was born intersex and raised male, before having gender reassignment surgery and become female, but still identifies as an intersex person. Leonne won a court case which meant that preventing someone from registering officially as gender neutral is a "violation of private life, self-determination and personal autonomy". It will, however, still be the decision of the court on whether the "X" will be issued on anyone's passport in the future. The ruling opened doors for Dutch LGBT groups to ask the government for anyone to be able to identify as gender neutral in the future.


title: Legal recognition of non-binary gender

text: On December 27, 2007, the Supreme Court of Nepal issued a decision mandating that the government scrap all laws that discriminated based on sexual orientation and/or gender identity and establish a committee to study same-sex marriage policy. The court also established a third-gender category. Nepalese official documents afford citizens three gender options: male, female, and "others". This may include people who present or perform as a gender that is different from the one that was assigned to them at birth. Nepal's 2011 census was the first national census in the world to allow people to register as a gender other than male or female. However, it was reported that "logistical problems, discrimination on the part of census-takers, and fear among some third genders" were interfering with the process, and eventually the census was published only listing male and female, leaving non-binary people outside or forcing them in a gender that was not their own. The 2007 supreme court decision ordered the government to issue citizenship ID cards that allowed "third-gender" or "other" to be listed. The court also ordered that the only requirements to identify as third-gender would be the person's own self-identification. "Legal provisions should be made to provide for gender identity to the people of transgender or third gender, under which female third gender, male third gender and intersexual are grouped, as per the concerned person's self-feeling"


title: Legal recognition of non-binary gender

text: Birth certificates are available at birth showing "indeterminate" sex if it is not possible to assign a sex. The New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs states, "A person's sex can be recorded as indeterminate at the time of birth if it cannot be ascertained that the person is either male or female, and there are a number of people so recorded."


title: Legal recognition of non-binary gender

text: Passports are available from December 2012 with an 'X' sex descriptor, where "X" means "indeterminate/unspecified". These were originally introduced for people transitioning gender.


title: Legal recognition of non-binary gender

text: On 17 July 2015, Statistics New Zealand introduced the first version of a gender identity classification standard for statistical purposes. The current version of the standard was introduced in April 2021 with the option of three categories (male, female, or another gender) or five categories (cisgender male, cisgender female, transgender male, transgender female, or another gender).


title: Legal recognition of non-binary gender

text: In March 2017, an Aotearoa/New Zealand and Australian community statement called for an end to legal classification of sex, stating that legal third classifications, like binary classifications, were based on structural violence and failed to respect diversity and a "right to self-determination".


title: Legal recognition of non-binary gender

text: In Pakistan, the polite term is "khwaja sara" or "khwaja sira" (Urdu: خواجه سرا), as hijra and khusra are considered derogatory by the khawaja sara community and human rights activists in Pakistan.<ref name="http://positiveimpactmagazine.com/"></ref> As most of Pakistan's official government and business documents are in English, the term "third gender" has been chosen to represent individuals (either male or female, neither, and/or both) that identify themselves as, transsexual, transgender person, cross-dresser (zenana in Urdu), transvestite, and eunuchs (narnbans in Urdu).<ref name="https://www.theguardian.com"></ref>


title: Legal recognition of non-binary gender

text: In June 2009, the Supreme Court of Pakistan ordered a census of khawaja sara, who number between 80,000 and 300,000 in Pakistan. In December 2009, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, the Chief Justice of Pakistan, ordered that the National Database and Registration Authority issue national identity cards to members of the community showing their distinct gender. "It's the first time in the 62-year history of Pakistan that such steps are being taken for our welfare", Almas Bobby, a khawaja sara association's president, said to Reuters, "It's a major step towards giving us respect and identity in society. We are slowly getting respect in society. Now people recognize that we are also human beings."


title: Legal recognition of non-binary gender

text: The current government of Prime Minister Imran Khan has started issuing national identity cards to khawaja Sara (trans) population in Pakistan. This is the first time in countries history, and a major change.


title: Legal recognition of non-binary gender

text: In January 2018, it was announced that plans to introduce a third gender option on identification documents, such as passports and the National Identification cards, would be implemented in the near future. In November 2018, Chen Mei-ling, the Minister of the National Development Council, announced that these plans come into effect in 2020.


title: Legal recognition of non-binary gender

text: Also commonly referred to as a third sex are the kathoeys (or "ladyboys") of Thailand. These are people whose assigned sex was male who identify and live as female. A significant number of Thais perceive kathoeys as belonging to a third gender, including many kathoeys themselves; others see them as second category women. Thai persons assigned male at birth undergoing sex-change operations are not uncommon occurrences, but they are still regarded as men on their identification documents. Despite this, Thai society remains one of the world's most tolerant towards kathoeys or the third gender. Researcher Sam Winter writes:


title: Legal recognition of non-binary gender

text: In 2004, the Chiang Mai Technology School allocated a separate restroom for , with an intertwined male and female symbol on the door. The 15 students are required to wear male clothing at school but are allowed to sport feminine hairdos. The restroom features four stalls, but no urinals.


title: Legal recognition of non-binary gender

text: Although are still not fully respected, they are gradually gaining acceptance and have made themselves a very distinct part of the Thai society. This is especially true in the entertainment, business, and fashion industries in Thailand, where the play significant roles in leadership and management positions. In addition, or second-category-women are very sought after when businesses are hiring salespeople. In many job posts, it is common to see companies state that second-category-women are preferred as their sales force because they are generally seen as more charismatic and expressive individuals.


title: Legal recognition of non-binary gender

text: The title "Mx." is widely accepted in the United Kingdom by government organisations and businesses as an alternative for non-binary people while HESA allows the use of non-binary gender markers for students in higher education. In 2015 early day motion EDM660 was registered with Parliament. EDM660 calls for citizens to be permitted access to the X marker on passports. When the text of EDM660 came to light in 2016 a formal petition was launched through the Parliamentary Petitions Service calling for EDM660 to be passed into law.


title: Legal recognition of non-binary gender

text: In September 2015 the Ministry of Justice responded to a petition calling for self-determination of legal gender, saying that they were not aware of "any specific detriment" experienced by nonbinary people unable to have their genders legally recognised. In January 2016 the Trans Inquiry Report by the Women and Equalities Committee called for nonbinary people to be protected from discrimination under the Equality Act, for the X gender marker to be added to passports, and for a wholesale review into the needs of nonbinary people by the government within six months. This did not happen. In June 2018 the British High Court ruled against a bid for passports to have an X marker.


title: Legal recognition of non-binary gender

text: The Scottish Government undertook a public consultation on Reforms to the Gender Recognition Act 2004 (GRA) from 9 November 2017 to 1 March 2018. The 2004 GRA sets out the legal process by which someone can change their legally recognised gender. The consultation analysis explains that 60% of those answering the question, agreed with the proposal to introduce a self-declaratory system for legal gender recognition. Point 66 in the analysis document reads "A majority of respondents, 62% of those answering the question, thought that Scotland should take action to recognise non-binary people. Of the remaining respondents, 33% did not think Scotland should take action and 4% did not know." A draft bill for reforming the 2004 GRA is to be proposed by the end of 2019. However, in their factsheet, the Scottish Government say they will not be extending legal gender-recognition to non-binary people. Instead they are intending to set up working group to consider what more could be done to further the inclusion of non-binary people in society.


title: Legal recognition of non-binary gender

text: In March 2020, a judge ruled that the lack of nonbinary gender marker on UK-issued passports was lawful "for now", but noted that "if the international trend towards more widespread official recognition of "non-binary" identity continues, then at some future date, denial could constitute a breach of human rights."


title: Legal recognition of non-binary gender

text: On 14 July 2020, International Nonbinary Day, MP Christine Jardine brought a private member's bill backed by LGBT charity Stonewall UK to the House of Commons, calling for the option of an X gender marker on UK-issued passports for nonbinary people. Its second reading was due to take place in January 2021, however the bill failed to complete its passage through that parliamentary session and will therefore make no further progress.


title: Legal recognition of non-binary gender

text: On 14 September 2020 an employment tribunal ruled that a non-binary employee was protected under the transition characteristic of the Equality Act 2010, the first legal confirmation that non-binary people are protected by the Act.


title: Legal recognition of non-binary gender

text: In May 2021, the UK government rejected a petition calling for the legal recognition of non-binary as a gender identity. Over 130,000 people signed the petition, which stated allowing non-binary as a gender identity would ease gender dysphoria and protect non-binary people from transphobic hate crimes. Despite 58% of respondents agreeing that a non-binary identity should be recognised in a 2018 consultation on the GRA, the government stated in their response that there were no plans to extend the GRA, saying that to do so would have "complex practical consequences".


title: Legal recognition of non-binary gender

text: On Intersex Awareness Day, October 26, 2015, LGBT civil rights organization Lambda Legal filed a federal discrimination lawsuit against the United States Department of State for denying navy veteran Dana Zzyym, Associate Director of Intersex Campaign for Equality, a passport because they are, and identify as, neither male nor female, but intersex. On November 22, 2016, the District Court for the District of Colorado ruled in favor of Zzyym, stating that the State Department violated federal law. The ruling stated that the court found "no evidence that the Department followed a rational decision-making process in deciding to implement its binary-only gender passport policy," and ordered the U.S. Passport Agency to reconsider its earlier decision. On September 19, 2018, a federal judge ruled a second time in favor of Zzyym, deciding that the U.S. State Department refusal to give a passport exceeded its authority.


title: Legal recognition of non-binary gender

text: On February 25, 2020, Rep. Ro Khanna introduced legislation in the United States House of Representatives (H. R. 5962) that would add a third gender designation to U.S. passport applications. On June 30, 2021, the State Department announced that they had begun an effort to add a third gender marker on U.S. passports, and it is expected to be implemented by the end of 2021. On October 27, 2021, the very first US X passport was issued to Dana Zzyym. As stated by Lambda Legal, Zzyym's legal representatives in their lawsuit, the X is a "sex/gender" marker, issued to Zzyym because they were able to demonstrate to the courts that they are not male or female in sex, but intersex, and also representing that Zzyym is non-binary in their gender identity. On April 11, 2022, the "X" gender marker became available in passports for all U.S. citizens.


title: Legal recognition of non-binary gender

text: In June 2017, Washington, D.C., announced that a non-binary "X" gender marker for district-issued ID cards and driver's licenses would become available later in June, with no medical certification required. The D.C. policy change went into effect on June 27, making the district the first place in the U.S. to offer gender-neutral driver's licenses and ID cards.


title: Legal recognition of non-binary gender

text: Since at least October 2018, Arkansas has been issuing driver's licenses with an "X" gender marker upon request. Arkansas has historically operated without a clear public policy for changing gender markers on IDs. However, in December 2010 former Assistant Commissioner of Operations and Administration Mike Munns announced that Arkansas's official policy would be to "allow a licensee to change their gender as requested, no questions asked, no documentation required."


title: Legal recognition of non-binary gender

text: On September 26, 2016, intersex California resident Sara Kelly Keenan became the second person in the United States to legally change her gender to non-binary. Keenan, who uses she/her pronouns and identifies as intersex "both as my medical reality and as my gender identification", cited Shupe's case as inspiration for her petition.


title: Legal recognition of non-binary gender

text: In December 2016, Keenan became the first American recipient of a birth certificate with "intersex" listed under the category of "sex".


title: Legal recognition of non-binary gender

text: In September 2017, California passed legislation implementing a third, non-binary gender marker on California birth certificates, drivers' licenses, and identity cards. The bill, SB 179, also removes the requirements for a physician's statement and mandatory court hearing for gender change petitions. The new designation has been available on California driver's licenses since January 1, 2019. As of 2021, 8,855 people had California driver's licenses with a non-binary gender designation.


title: Legal recognition of non-binary gender

text: On November 30, 2018, Colorado began allowing people who do not identify as male or female to mark X as the gender identifier on their driver's license. Applicants who want to use the X on their driver's licenses complete a form during the license application process and are not required to be undergoing any hormonal treatment or surgeries.


title: Legal recognition of non-binary gender

text: On January 27, 2020, Connecticut Governor Lamont Announces DMV Now Including ‘Non-Binary' as Gender Option for Driver's Licenses and ID Cards.


title: Legal recognition of non-binary gender

text: Motor Vehicle Department employees shall not request additional gender-related information beyond that required on the applicable forms or otherwise inquire about the applicant's private medical history or records.


title: Legal recognition of non-binary gender

text: In August 2019, Illinois passed legislation to allow gender-neutral markers on all state forms including driver's licenses and ID cards. The changes may take several years to implement, however, due to Illinois' existing six-year contract with IDEMIA to provide ID card services.


title: Legal recognition of non-binary gender

text: In March 2019, the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles began allowing gender-neutral markers on driver's licenses and identification cards.


title: Legal recognition of non-binary gender

text: On June 11, 2018, Maine began allowing "X" gender markers on state IDs, using a temporary sticker until a 2019 system update.


title: Legal recognition of non-binary gender

text: A law offering an "X" gender marker on driver's licenses and state identification cards has also been passed in Maryland (effective October 1, 2019).


title: Legal recognition of non-binary gender

text: Minnesota began allowing "X" gender markers on state IDs on October 1, 2018. The designation is considered self reported information and does not require documentation. A nonbinary person named MJ Zappa became the first to obtain the marker after a struggle with the state Department of Vehicle Services for over a year.


title: Legal recognition of non-binary gender

text: In July 2019, the New Hampshire legislature passed a bill allowing individuals to indicate their sex on IDs as male, female, or other.


title: Legal recognition of non-binary gender

text: The passage of Assembly Bill A1718 amended state law to allow the State Registrar, effective February 1, 2019, to issue an amended birth certificate with a third designation of "Undesignated/non-binary" to a person upon request.


title: Legal recognition of non-binary gender

text: In 2021, New Jersey added an 'X' gender identifier option to be displayed on drivers' licenses instead of 'F' or 'M'.


title: Legal recognition of non-binary gender

text: The passage of Senate Bill 20 into law in the 2019 session of the New Mexico Legislature amended the Vital Records Act to allow for a third designator on the state's identification documents (in both Real ID Act compliant and non-compliant forms), 'X', to be selected instead of 'F' or 'M' and required only a doctor's signature on the designator change request form instead of a court order as prior. The Motor Vehicle Division of the New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department began issuing such licenses later that year, although by Q1 2020 the forms for license renewal had not yet been reprinted with the third option shown, instead allowing manual amendment.


title: Legal recognition of non-binary gender

text: In June 2017, legislation was introduced in New York City, the NYC municipal ID has a non-binary option (New York City and New York State have separate departments handling birth certificates) to offer an "X" gender marker for residents' ID cards. In April 2017, the second intersex birth certificate (in which the recipient's "sex" is listed as intersex) in the United States was issued to non-binary intersex writer and activist Hida Viloria. On June 24, 2021, the Gender Recognition Act was signed into law, allowing New Yorkers to display an "X" gender marker on their ID, and IDs with the "X" marker were officially available as of May 27, 2022.


title: Legal recognition of non-binary gender

text: For a short period between the Oklahoma State Department of Health settling "Loreleid v. Oklahoma State Department of Health" in October 2021 and Oklahoma governor Kevin Stitt signing Executive Order 2021-24 on 8 November 2021, birth certificates with a non-binary gender marker could be issued in Oklahoma. A ban on non-binary gender markers on birth certificates was passed by the state legislature in the form of Oklahoma Senate Bill 1100 in April 2022.


title: Legal recognition of non-binary gender

text: On June 10, 2016, a state judge in a Multnomah County, Oregon circuit court ruled that a resident, Elisa Rae Shupe, could obtain a non-binary gender designation.


title: Legal recognition of non-binary gender

text: Shupe was represented by civil rights lawyer Lake Perriguey. The Transgender Law Center believes this to be "the first ruling of its kind in the U.S."


title: Legal recognition of non-binary gender

text: On June 15, 2017, Oregon became the first state in the U.S. to announce it will allow a non-binary "X" gender marker on state IDs and driver's licenses, beginning July 1 with no doctor's note required.


title: Legal recognition of non-binary gender

text: As of 2019, in the state of Oregon any person may choose a gender marking of their choosing ("F", "X", or "M" being the options, the field being listed as "sex") on their driver's license or identification card without any requirements of proof of gender.


title: Legal recognition of non-binary gender

text: Oregon also allows a person to amend their birth certificate to include non-binary "X" gender marker as of January 1, 2018.


title: Legal recognition of non-binary gender

text: On July 30, 2019, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation announced that they would introduce an official process to request an X gender designation on state driver's licenses in 2020. According to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation website, the new process was rolled out in January 2020.


title: Legal recognition of non-binary gender

text: Since 2017 and 2018 respectively, Utah has issued X gender markers on birth certificates and driver’s licenses although to do so requires a court order.


title: Legal recognition of non-binary gender

text: In December 2017, Washington state filed an adopted rule to allow a third, non-binary "X" gender marker on amended birth certificates, although certificates will still be initially issued with male or female designations; the rule went into effect on January 27, 2018.


title: Legal recognition of non-binary gender

text: Since 19 October 2018, a new law in Uruguay allows people to change their gender/sex entry on a self-determined basis, including other descriptions than male/female or man/woman, without requiring any medical documents. The law also provides a basis for social protection, anti-discrimination efforts, quotas and reparations.<section end="countries" />


title: H. L. Hunt

text: Haroldson Lafayette Hunt Jr. (February 17, 1889 – November 29, 1974) was an American oil tycoon. By trading poker winnings for oil rights according to legend, but more likely through money he gained from successful speculation in oil leases, he ultimately secured title to much of the East Texas Oil Field, one of the world's largest oil deposits. He acquired rights to East Texas oil lands initially through a $30,000 land purchase from oil speculator Dad Joiner, and founded Hunt Oil in 1936. From it and his other acquisitions, which included diverse interests in publishing, cosmetics, pecan farming, and health food producers, he accrued a fortune that was among the world's largest. In the 1950's, his Facts Forum Foundation supported highly Conservative newspaper columns and radio programs, some of which he authored and produced himself, and for which he became known. At his death, he was reputed to have one of the highest net worths of any individual in the world, a fortune estimated between two and three billion dollars.


title: H. L. Hunt

text: Hunt was born near Ramsey, in Carson Township, Fayette County, Illinois, the youngest of eight children. He was named after his father, Haroldson Lafayette Hunt, who was a prosperous farmer-entrepreneur. His mother was Ella Rose (Myers) Hunt.


title: H. L. Hunt

text: Hunt was homeschooled. He did not go to elementary school or to high school. Later, he said that education is an obstacle to making money. As a teenager, Hunt traveled to different places before he settled in Arkansas, where he was running a cotton plantation by 1912. He had a reputation as a math prodigy and was a gambler. It was said that after his cotton plantation was flooded, he turned his last $100 into more than $100,000 after he had gambled in New Orleans. With his winnings, he purchased oil properties in the neighborhood of El Dorado, Arkansas. He was generous to his employees, who, in turn, were loyal to him by informing him of rumors of a massive oil field to the south, in East Texas. In negotiations over cheese and crackers, at the Adolphus Hotel in Dallas, with the wild-catter who discovered the East Texas Oil Field, Columbus Marion "Dad" Joiner, Hunt secured title to what was the largest known oil deposit in the world. Hunt had agreed to pay Joiner $1,000,000 and to protect him from liability for his many fraudulent transactions surrounding the property. In 1957, "Fortune" estimated that Hunt had a fortune of $400–700 million, and was one of the eight richest people in the United States. J. Paul Getty, who was considered to be the richest private citizen in the world, said of Hunt, "In terms of extraordinary, independent wealth, there is only one man—H. L. Hunt."


title: H. L. Hunt

text: He married Lyda Bunker of Lake Village, Arkansas, in November 1914 and remained married to her until her death in 1955. His seven children by her were: Margaret (1915–2007), Haroldson ("Hassie", 1917–2005), Caroline (1923–2018), Lyda (born and died in 1925), Nelson Bunker (1926–2014), William Herbert (1929), and Lamar (1932–2006). Their home on White Rock Lake in Dallas was styled after Mount Vernon though much larger.


title: H. L. Hunt

text: His first son, Hassie, who was expected to succeed him in control of the family business, was lobotomized in response to increasingly erratic behavior. He outlived his father. Lamar founded the American Football League and created the Super Bowl, drawing on the assistance of his children in selecting the game's name. Two other children, Herbert and Bunker, are famous for their purchasing much of the world's silver, in an attempt to corner the market. They ultimately owned more silver than any government in the world before their scheme was discovered and undone. Bunker Hunt was briefly one of the wealthiest men in the world, having discovered and taken title to the Libyan oil fields, before Muammar Gaddafi nationalized the properties.


title: H. L. Hunt

text: in November 1925 by using the name Franklin Hunt. Frania claimed to have discovered the bigamous nature of her marriage in 1934, and in a legal settlement in 1941, Hunt created trust funds for each of their four children, and she signed a document stipulating that no legal marriage between them had ever existed. About the same time, she briefly married then divorced Hunt's employee, John Lee, taking the last name Lee for herself and her four children. Her four children by Hunt were: Howard (born 1926), Haroldina (1928), Helen (1930), and Hugh ("Hue", 1934). Frania Tye Lee died in 2002.


title: H. L. Hunt

text: Hunt supported and had children by Ruth Ray of Shreveport, Louisiana, whom he had met when she was a secretary in his Shreveport office. They married in 1957 after the death of Hunt's wife Lyda. His four children by her were: Ray Lee (born 1943), June (1944), Helen (1949), and Swanee (1950). His youngest son, Ray Lee, ultimately inherited the business and was a major supporter of President George W. Bush.


title: H. L. Hunt

text: A scandal emerged in 1975, after his death, when it was discovered that he had a hidden bigamous relationship, with his second wife living in New York.


title: H. L. Hunt

text: After marriage to Ruth Ray, Hunt became a Baptist and was a member of the First Baptist Church of Dallas. He was a major financial contributor toward the establishment of the conservative Christian evangelical Criswell College in Dallas.


title: H. L. Hunt

text: After several months at Baylor Hospital in Dallas, Hunt died at age 85, and was buried in Sparkman-Hillcrest Memorial Park Cemetery.


title: H. L. Hunt

text: The founder of the "transcendental black metal" band Liturgy, Hunter Hunt-Hendrix, is his grandchild.


title: H. L. Hunt

text: Multiple sources, including American civil rights icon Malcolm X, implicate Hunt as a lifelong racist who provided major financial assistance to several far-right organizations, such as the Minutemen and the John Birch Society. Hunt considered African Americans a political threat and made this clear in his radio interviews and broadcasts. One of Hunt's chief allies, Allen Zoll, said that since 1936 Hunt advocated deporting all African Americans to Africa. For this reason, Hunt supplied Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad continuous financial support due to the latter's belief in racial separation from whites.


title: H. L. Hunt

text: In 1965, Hunt encouraged Alabama Gov. George C. Wallace, a white supremacist, to use the scheme of running his wife, Lurleen Wallace, for election as governor in a bald effort to evade the state's constitutional rule that a governor could not succeed himself.


title: H. L. Hunt

text: Madeleine Duncan Brown, an advertising executive who claimed to have had both an extended love affair and a son with President Lyndon B. Johnson, said that she was present at a party at the Dallas home of Clint Murchison Sr. (another oil tycoon), on the evening prior to the assassination of John F. Kennedy that was attended by Johnson as well as other famous, wealthy, and powerful individuals including Hunt, Murchison, J. Edgar Hoover, and Richard Nixon.


title: H. L. Hunt

text: According to Brown, Johnson had a meeting with several of the men after which he told her: "After tomorrow, those goddamn Kennedys will never embarrass me again. That's no threat. That's a promise." Brown's story received national attention and became part of at least a dozen John F. Kennedy assassination conspiracy theories.


title: H. L. Hunt

text: This conspiracy theory was debunked by Kennedy assassination investigator Dave Perry. Evidence showed neither President Johnson nor Hoover were in Dallas at the time of the alleged party and Murchison had not lived in his Dallas home for a number of years. Witnesses place Murchison at his East Texas ranch.


title: Detroit Rock City (film)

text: Detroit Rock City is a 1999 American teen comedy film directed by Adam Rifkin and written by Carl V. Dupré. It tells of four teenage boys in a Kiss tribute band who try to see their idols in a concert in Detroit in 1978. Comparable with other rock films such as "Rock 'n' Roll High School", "Dazed and Confused", and "I Wanna Hold Your Hand", it tells a coming-of-age story through a filter of 1970s music and culture in the United States. It took its title from the Kiss song of the same name.


title: Detroit Rock City (film)

text: The film was shot at Cedarbrae Collegiate Institute in Scarborough, Toronto and other Ontario locations including Copps Coliseum in Hamilton. The film received mixed reviews from critics and grossed approximately $6 million against a $17 million budget.


title: Detroit Rock City (film)

text: In 1978 Cleveland, Ohio, four rebellious teenage boys – Hawk, Lex, Trip Verudie, and Jeremiah "Jam" Bruce – play in a Kiss tribute band called "Mystery" and prepare to see their idols in concert in Detroit, Michigan the following night. Their hopes are dashed when Jam's religiously conservative mother finds their tickets and burns them before having Jam transferred to a Catholic boarding school.


title: Detroit Rock City (film)

text: After Trip manages to win tickets and backstage passes from a radio contest in Detroit, the boys, disguised as pizza deliverymen, rescue Jam from the boarding school by drugging Father Phillip McNulty using a pizza topped with hallucinogen mushrooms before setting off for Detroit in Lex's mother's Volvo to collect the tickets. En route, they get into a road rage incident with disco fanatics Kenny and Bobby after Trip throws a slice of pizza on their windshield. They beat up the disco duo and continue their journey before picking up Kenny's girlfriend Christine, who dumped Kenny due to his behavior.


title: Detroit Rock City (film)

text: Upon arriving in Detroit, the boys discover that Trip did not stay on the phone long enough to give the radio station his information, resulting in the tickets being given to the next caller. When they exit the building they find the Volvo missing, which they deduce Christine stole. After briefly arguing amongst themselves, the four split up to find Kiss tickets and the Volvo, planning to regroup in 105 minutes. Hawk finds a scalper who suggests he enter a male stripping contest to raise money for tickets. He gets drunk and loses the contest after vomiting, but is offered payment for the company and has sex with an older woman named Amanda Finch. After being paid, he locates the scalper, only to discover that his tickets are sold out. Trip goes to a local convenience store, hoping to mug a younger child for his ticket but the boy's older brother, Chongo, and his friends, confront and threaten him for $200. He then plans to rob the store with a Stretch Armstrong doll disguised as a gun, but ends up receiving $150 after thwarting a genuine robbery attempt. Trip gives the money to Chongo's gang, but they assault him regardless and consequently steal his wallet.


title: Detroit Rock City (film)

text: Lex sneaks backstage with the concert loading crew but is caught and tossed over a fence where he tames a group of vicious dogs with a Frisbee, then saves Christine and the Volvo from two car thieves (who are responsible for stealing the car) at a nearby chop shop. Jam encounters his mother at an anti-Kiss rally, who forcibly takes his drumsticks before dragging him to a nearby church for confessional with a perverted priest who is more interested in salacious conversation, rather than an actual confession. He is then greeted by Beth Bumstein, a classmate who is moving to Ann Arbor. After admitting their feelings for each other, they have sex before parting ways, agreeing to maintain contact with each other. Jam, imbued with new confidence, returns to the rally and criticizes his mother's domineering ways and hypocrisy, telling her that her extreme religious views and controlling attitude have only caused him to despise religion and rebel. He ultimately breaks her spirit by labelling her as a lousy mother and proclaiming to her and the rally attendees that he lost his virginity in a confessional booth. He then demands his drumsticks back, one of which she broke in half. She does so and apologizes to him, remarking to the crowd, "They grow up fast, don't they?".


title: Detroit Rock City (film)

text: When the boys meet up empty-handed, Jam suggests beating each other up to imply having been mugged for their tickets. Upon their arrival at Cobo Hall, the guards initially doubt the boys' claims, until Trip points out Chongo's gang, who are just entering, as their assailants. When the guards search them, they find Trip's wallet with his Kiss Army picture ID and money, then confiscate Chongo's tickets and give them to the boys before escorting him, his little brother, and his friends out of the concert. Shocked and delighted, the quartet enter the concert hall as Kiss plays the film's title song. As it ends, Peter Criss throws a drumstick, which Jam joyfully and excitedly catches.


title: Detroit Rock City (film)

text: "Detroit Rock City" opened in 1,802 theaters on August 13, 1999, and earned $2,005,512 in its opening weekend, ranking number 13 in the domestic box office. By the end of its run, it had grossed only $4,217,115 with an additional $1,608,199 from international sales, bringing its worldwide total gross to $5,825,314. Against an estimated $17 million budget, it was a box office bomb. To KISS and rock fans, the film is considered a cult classic.


title: Detroit Rock City (film)

text: "Detroit Rock City" received mixed reviews from critics. Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes shows that out of 41 reviews, it has a 49% rating. The site's consensus is; "Silly plot, over-the-top directing style." Despite this, Metacritic, it has a 33/100 rating based on 18 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".


title: Detroit Rock City (film)

text: "Detroit Rock City" was released via VHS and DVD on December 21, 1999. DVD special features include four audio commentaries (director Rifkin, selected cast and crew members, and all four original Kiss members), deleted scenes, multi-angle views of the Kiss concert, an instructional segment featuring a step-by-step guitar lesson for "Rock and Roll All Nite", original screen test footage, and DVD-ROM features.


title: Detroit Rock City (film)

text: In December 2007, the film was re-released on DVD as an exclusive bonus fifth disc contained within "". It was only available with initial pre-orders sold during VH1 Classic's "24 Hours of Kissmas" weekend marathon.


title: Detroit Rock City (film)

text: The film was released on Blu-ray in April 2015, containing additional special features, not in the original DVD release.


title: Detroit Rock City (film)

text: The soundtrack was released on August 3, 1999, by Mercury Records. The album features a mix of classic rock songs and covers of classic rock songs by contemporary artists.


title: Richie Faulkner

text: Richard Ian Faulkner (born 1 January 1980) is an English musician best known as one of the lead guitarists for the heavy metal band Judas Priest since 2011, replacing original member K. K. Downing. Faulkner has also performed with Lauren Harris, Christopher Lee, Voodoo Six, Dirty Deeds, and Ace Mafia.


title: Richie Faulkner

text: Faulkner was born in London, and lived in Stockholm, Sweden, where he worked as a sausage seller between 1995 and 2000, and learned to speak Swedish while living in the country.


title: Richie Faulkner

text: His inspiration to pick up a guitar was watching recordings of Jimi Hendrix's concerts at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967 and at the Atlanta Pop Festival in 1970. Faulkner got his first guitar when he was around 7 or 8 years old. His father played guitar and was a fan of Hendrix and bands like Black Sabbath and Deep Purple, and used to show him a few chords. The first song he learned to play on guitar was The Troggs' 1966 single "Wild Thing". When Faulkner was about 13 years old, he connected with the owner of a local music shop who played in a cover band, covering material from Iron Maiden to Thin Lizzy to UFO. He asked Faulkner to play a couple of songs with him at some gigs, which was his introduction to the world of gigging.


title: Richie Faulkner

text: In the early stages of his career, Faulkner played in bands such as Dirty Deeds, Voodoo Six (which he co-founded with bassist Tony Newton), Ace Mafia, Parramon, and Lauren Harris' band. His first signed band was Dirty Deeds, and their first album, 2002's "Blown", was produced by Iron Maiden bassist Steve Harris. With Faulkner on guitar, the Lauren Harris band was the opening act on Iron Maiden's Somewhere Back in Time World Tour in 2008. Steve Harris told Faulkner that if anything would have happened to any of his bandmates, he would have chosen Faulkner as a replacement.


title: Richie Faulkner

text: Faulkner has also arranged music for actor Christopher Lee's heavy metal album, "". Lee's team sent Faulkner some songs that were very orchestral and symphony-based and asked him to arrange them into metal songs. Both Lee and his team gave Faulkner a free creative reign for any ideas he felt the songs needed. The album was released on 27 May 2013, Lee's 91st birthday.


title: Richie Faulkner

text: On 20 April 2011, Faulkner was appointed as the successor of guitarist K. K. Downing in heavy metal band Judas Priest. A mutual friend, guitarist Pete Friesen, recommended him to the band. Friesen and Faulkner had played together in a cover band in London called Metalworks, which coincidentally is also the title of a Judas Priest compilation released in 1993. They called him on a wrong phone number, so they sent him two emails. Faulkner thought they were junk mail, so he deleted them. The band began to track him down and eventually got his real phone number. When Faulkner got a call from the band's management, he thought it was a joke. He went to Glenn Tipton's house the next day to meet him and Rob Halford was present as well. They had a discussion and Faulkner played a few pieces for them. They sent him a few tracks because they wanted to hear what he would play on those tracks on the solos, and they went from there. Faulkner returned about a week later and they offered him the gig. He kept it a secret for a month until the official announcement.


title: Richie Faulkner

text: Faulkner's first performance with Judas Priest occurred on 25 May 2011 on the TV show "American Idol", where the band performed "Living After Midnight" and "Breaking the Law" with James Durbin. Faulkner's first album with Judas Priest was "Redeemer of Souls", released in 2014.


title: Richie Faulkner

text: Vocalist Rob Halford and guitarist Glenn Tipton have credited Faulkner with saving Judas Priest. Halford said in a 2015 interview; "Let's face it, to some extent Richie saved Judas Priest, because if we hadn't have found him at the crucial time that we were looking for a guitar player, things could have turned out quite differently."


title: Richie Faulkner

text: In 2015, Faulker was awarded the Dimebag Darrell Shredder Award by the readers of British magazine "Metal Hammer" at their annual Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards.


title: Richie Faulkner

text: On 9 March 2018, Judas Priest released their second album with Faulkner, "Firepower", which debuted and peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 chart, becoming the band's highest charting album.


title: Richie Faulkner

text: Faulkner is in a relationship with Mariah Lynch, the daughter of guitarist George Lynch. The couple's first child, a daughter, was born on 8 July 2020.


title: Richie Faulkner

text: On 27 September 2021, Judas Priest had to postpone their "50 Heavy Metal Years Tour" in the United States due to Faulkner undergoing major emergency heart surgery. The band announced on social media that they will look to reschedule the tour following updates from Faulkner's doctors. In a statement shared on Judas Priest's official website on 5 October 2021, Faulkner explained that when the band was performing "Painkiller" at the "Louder Than Life Festival" in Kentucky on 26 September 2021, his aorta ruptured and started to spill blood into his chest cavity. Faulkner's doctor told him he had an aortic aneurysm and complete aortic dissection, which is often fatal. Faulkner was taken to a nearby hospital, the Rudd Heart & Lung Center (which is only 4 miles away from the venue), and quickly went into what turned out to be a 10 ½ hour emergency open heart surgery where five parts of his chest were replaced with mechanical components. Faulkner said that this was totally unexpected for him since he had no history of a bad heart, no clogged arteries nor high cholesterol, and then urged the fans to get themselves checked.


title: Richie Faulkner

text: Faulkner has cited bands like Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Thin Lizzy, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, UFO, Rainbow, and Metallica as his early musical influences, as well as guitarists such as Jimi Hendrix, Brian May, David Gilmour, Eddie Van Halen, Dave Murray, Randy Rhoads, Zakk Wylde, Kirk Hammett, and Michael Schenker as major influences on his guitar playing.


title: Richie Faulkner

text: Faulkner is known for his use of Gibson and Epiphone Flying V model guitars, equipped with his signature EMG 57/66 active pickups. His first Gibson was an Epiphone Flying V with locking trem. Faulkner has also used a Gibson Les Paul Custom with EMG 81/85 active pickups.


title: 12 X 5

text: 12 × 5 is the second American studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released in 1964 following the success of their American debut "The Rolling Stones (England's Newest Hit Makers)", is an expanded version of the EP "Five by Five", which had followed their debut album in the UK.


title: 12 X 5

text: The five songs on the British EP were fleshed out with seven additional tracks to bring the work to LP length. Among the additional tracks were the UK single-only release "It's All Over Now", a cover of a Bobby Womack song that was the group's first UK number one hit, an alternative version of "Time Is on My Side", which appears in a more familiar form on other albums, and three Jagger/Richards originals.


title: 12 X 5

text: The album, like its predecessor, largely features R&B covers. However, it also contains three compositions by the developing Mick Jagger/Keith Richards songwriting team, as well as two group compositions under the pseudonym "Nanker Phelge". "12 × 5" is notable for featuring the first, and less often heard, of the Stones' two versions of Jerry Ragovoy's "Time Is on My Side", with a prominent electronic organ instead of the better-known version's electric guitar.


title: 12 X 5

text: "I loved everything about this album as a kid," recalled Joe Satriani. "It was those second-generation electric blues players that I loved, but I had no idea where they got that music from. It took my teenage years to discover that."


title: 12 X 5

text: After sessions in Chicago in June 1964, the Stones' UK label Decca Records released the five-song EP "Five by Five". Because EPs were never a lucrative format in the US, London Records – their American distributor at the time – spread its songs across an album, adding seven new recordings to create a release of 12 songs by five musicians, hence the album's title. The rest of the songs were singles "It's All Over Now" and "Time Is on My Side" with their B-sides, plus three that were later included on "The Rolling Stones No. 2". Decca would use the same cover (minus the lettering) for the band's second UK album, "The Rolling Stones No. 2", in early 1965.


title: 12 X 5

text: The album was included in Robert Christgau's "Basic Record Library" of 1950s and 1960s recordings, published in "" (1981).


title: 12 X 5

text: In August 2002, "12 × 5" was reissued in a new remastered CD and SACD digipak by ABKCO Records. This edition includes stereo versions of "Around and Around", "Confessin' the Blues", "Empty Heart", "It's All Over Now", an extended version of "2120 South Michigan Avenue", and "If You Need Me".


title: 12 X 5

text: "12 × 5" proved to be a faster seller than "England's Newest Hit Makers", reaching No. 3 and going gold quickly.


title: Battle of Messines (1917)

text: The Battle of Messines (7–14 June 1917) was an attack by the British Second Army (General Sir Herbert Plumer), on the Western Front, near the village of Messines (now Mesen) in West Flanders, Belgium, during the First World War. The Nivelle Offensive in April and May had failed to achieve its more grandiose aims, had led to the demoralisation of French troops and confounded the Anglo-French strategy for 1917. The attack forced the Germans to move reserves to Flanders from the Arras and Aisne fronts, relieving pressure on the French.


title: Battle of Messines (1917)

text: The British tactical objective was to capture the German defences on the ridge, which ran from Ploegsteert Wood (Plugstreet to the British) in the south, through Messines and Wytschaete to Mt Sorrel, depriving the German 4th Army of the high ground. The ridge gave commanding views of the British defences and back areas of Ypres to the north, from which the British intended to conduct the Northern Operation, an advance to Passchendaele Ridge and then the capture of the Belgian coast up to the Dutch frontier. The Second Army had five corps, three for the attack and two on the northern flank not part of the operation; XIV Corps was in General Headquarters reserve. The 4th Army divisions of Group Wytschaete (, the IX Reserve Corps headquarters) held the ridge and were later reinforced by a division from Group Ypres ().


title: Battle of Messines (1917)

text: The British attacked with the II Anzac Corps (3rd Australian Division, New Zealand Division and the 25th Division, with the 4th Australian Division in reserve), IX Corps (36th (Ulster), 16th (Irish) and 19th (Western) divisions and the 11th (Northern) Division in reserve), X Corps (41st, 47th (1/2nd London) and 23rd Divisions with the 24th Division in reserve). XIV Corps in reserve (Guards, 1st, 8th and 32nd divisions). The 30th, 55th (West Lancashire), 39th and 38th (Welsh) divisions in II Corps and VIII Corps, guarded the northern flank and made probing attacks on 8 June. held the ridge with the 204th, 35th, 2nd, 3rd Bavarian (relieving the 40th Division when the British attack began) and 4th Bavarian divisions, with the 7th Division and 1st Guard Reserve Division as (counter-attack) divisions. The 24th Saxon Division, relieved on 5 June, was rushed back when the attack began and the 11th Division, in reserve, arrived on 8 June.


title: Battle of Messines (1917)

text: The battle began with the detonation of nineteen mines beneath the German front position, which devastated it and left large craters. A creeping barrage, deep, began and protected the British troops as they secured the ridge with support from tanks, cavalry patrols and aircraft. The effect of the British mines, barrages and bombardments was improved by advances in artillery survey, flash spotting and centralised control of artillery from the Second Army headquarters. British attacks from 8 to 14 June advanced the front line beyond the former German (Chord Position, the Oosttaverne Line to the British). The battle was a prelude to the much larger Third Battle of Ypres, the preliminary bombardment for which began on 11 July 1917.


title: Battle of Messines (1917)

text: In 1916, the British planned to clear the Germans from the Belgian coast to deny them the use of the ports as naval bases. In January, Plumer recommended to Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig the capture of Messines Ridge (part of the southern arc of the Ypres Salient) before an operation to capture the Gheluvelt plateau further north. The highest ground north of the Messines–Wytschaete ridge lies on the Menin road, between Hooge and Veldhoek, from Gheluvelt, at the west end of the main Ypres ridge, which runs from Ypres, east to Broodseinde and then north-east to Passchendaele, Westroosebeek and Staden. The British called it the Gheluvelt Plateau or Menin Ridge. Roads and tracks converged on the Menin road at this point (Clapham Junction to the British). The east end of the Gheluvelt plateau was on the west side of Polygon Wood. A flat spur either side of the Menin road ran about south-eastwards towards Kruiseecke and was about wide at Veldhoek, with a depression on the west side through which the Bassevillebeek flowed southwards and another on the east side, through which the Reutelbeek also flowed south. The spur widened to almost between Veldhoek and Gheluvelt.


title: Battle of Messines (1917)

text: A Flanders campaign was postponed because of the Battle of Verdun in 1916 and the demands of the Battle of the Somme. When it became apparent that the Second Battle of the Aisne (the main part of the Nivelle Offensive, 16 April to 9 May 1917) had failed to achieve its most ambitious objectives, Haig instructed the Second Army to capture the Messines–Wytschaete Ridge as soon as possible. British operations in Flanders would relieve pressure on the French Armies on the Aisne, where demoralisation amid the failure of the Nivelle Offensive had led to mutinies. The capture of Messines Ridge would give the British control of the tactically important ground on the southern flank of the Ypres Salient, shorten the front and deprive the Germans of observation over British positions further north. The British would gain observation of the southern slope of Menin Ridge at the west end of the Gheluvelt plateau, ready for the Northern Operation.


title: Battle of Messines (1917)

text: The front line around Ypres had changed little since the end of the Second Battle of Ypres ( May 1915). The British held the city and the Germans held the high ground of the Messines–Wytschaete Ridge to the south, the lower ridges to the east and the flat ground to the north. The term high ground is relative; Passchendaele is on a ridge about above the surrounding plains. The Gheluvelt plateau is about above the vicinity and Wytschaete is about higher than the plain; control of the ground was vital for artillery observation. The Ypres front was a salient bulging into the German lines and was overlooked by German artillery observers on the higher ground. The British had little ground observation of the German rear areas and valleys east of the ridges.


title: Battle of Messines (1917)

text: The ridges run north and east from Messines, above sea-level at its highest point, past Clapham Junction at the west end of the Gheluvelt plateau, from Ypres at and Gheluvelt, above , to Passchendaele from Ypres at , declining from there into the plain further north. Gradients vary from negligible to at Hooge and at Zonnebeke. Underneath the soil is London clay, sand and silt. According to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission criteria of "sand", "sandy soils" and "well-balanced soils", Messines Ridge is "well-balanced soil", drained by many streams, canals and ditches, which needed regular maintenance. Since the First Battle of Ypres in 1914, much of the drainage in the area had been destroyed by artillery-fire, although some repairs had been achieved by army Land Drainage Companies brought from England. The area was considered by the British to be drier than Loos, Givenchy-lès-la-Bassée (Givenchy) and Plugstreet (Ploegsteert) Wood further south.


title: Battle of Messines (1917)

text: The Second Army centralised its artillery and devised a plan of great sophistication, following the precedent set at the Battle of Arras in April. The use of field survey, gun calibration, weather data and a new and highly accurate map, much improved artillery accuracy. Systematic target-finding was established by the use of new sound-ranging equipment, better organisation of flash-spotting and the communication of results through the Army Report Centre at Locre Château. Counter-battery artillery bombardments increased from twelve in the week ending 19 April, to in the last ten days before the attack. A survey of captured ground after the battle found that of the German artillery positions had been plotted. The 2nd Field Survey Company also assisted mining companies by establishing the positions of objectives within the German lines, using intersection and a special series of aerial photographs. The company surveyed advanced artillery positions for guns to be moved forward to them and open fire as soon as they arrived.


title: Battle of Messines (1917)

text: The British had begun a mining offensive against the (Wytschaete position) in 1916. Sub-surface conditions were especially complex and separate ground water tables made mining difficult. Two military geologists assisted the miners from March 1916, including Edgeworth David, who planned the system of mines. Sappers dug the tunnels into a layer of blue clay underground, then drifted galleries for to points deep underneath the front position of , despite German counter-mining. German tunnellers came close to several British mine chambers, found the mine at La Petite Douve Farm and wrecked the chamber with a . The British diverted the attention of German miners from their deepest galleries by making many secondary attacks in the upper levels. Co-ordinated by tunnelling companies of the Royal Engineers, Canadian, Australian, New Zealand and British miners laid with of ammonal explosive.


title: Battle of Messines (1917)

text: Two mines were laid at on the northern flank, one at St Eloi, three at Hollandscheschuur, two at Petit Bois, one each at Maedelstede Farm, Peckham House and Spanbroekmolen, four at Kruisstraat, one at Ontario Farm and two each at trenches on the southern flank. One of the largest of the mines was at Spanbroekmolen; Lone Tree Crater formed by the blast of of ammonal in a chamber at the end of a gallery long, below ground was in diameter and deep. The British knew of the importance the Germans placed on holding the salient, after a captured corps order from stating "that the salient be held at all costs" was received by Haig on 1 June. In the week before the attack, and howitzers bombarded the German trenches, cut wire, destroyed strongpoints and conducted counter-battery fire against German artillery pieces, using The 4th Army artillery consisted of fifty-four twenty-four guns, and four heavy and guns.


title: Battle of Messines (1917)

text: In May, the 4th Australian Division, 11th (Northern) Division and the 24th Division were transferred from Arras as reserve divisions for the Second Army corps in the attack on Messines Ridge. Seventy-two of the new Mark IV tanks also arrived in May and were hidden south-west of Ypres. British aircraft began to move north from the Arras front, the total rising to about aircraft in the II Brigade RFC (Second Army) area. The mass of artillery to be used in the attack was supported by many artillery-observation and photographic reconnaissance aircraft, in the corps squadrons which had been increased from twelve to eighteen aircraft each. Strict enforcement of wireless procedure allowed a reduction of the minimum distance between observation aircraft from at Arras in April to at Messines, without mutual wireless interference. Wire-cutting bombardments began on 21 May and two days were added to the bombardment for more counter-battery fire. The main bombardment began on 31 May, with only one day of poor weather before the attack. Two flights of each observation squadron concentrated on counter-battery observation and one became a bombardment flight, working with particular artillery bombardment groups for wire cutting and trench-destruction; these flights were to become contact-patrols to observe the positions of British troops once the assault began. The attack barrage was rehearsed on 3 June to allow British air observers to plot masked German batteries, which mainly remained hidden but many minor flaws in the British barrage were reported. A repeat performance on 5 June, induced a larger number of hidden German batteries to reveal themselves.


title: Battle of Messines (1917)

text: The 25th Division made its preparations on a front from the Wulverghem–Messines road to the Wulverghem–Wytschaete road, facing of the German front line, which tapered to the final objective, wide, at the near crest of the ridge, distant, behind nine German defensive lines. The advance would begin up a short rise to the near edge of the Steenbeek Valley, then up the steep rise from the valley floor between Hell and Sloping Roof farms to Four Huns, Chest and Middle farms on the main ridge, with Lumm Farm on the left flank of the objective. Artillery emplacements for the 25th divisional artillery and 112th Army Field Brigade were built and the Guards Division field artillery was placed in concealed forward positions. Road making and the construction of dugouts and communication trenches took place first between 12 and 30 April and then between 11 May and 6 June. In three hours, an assembly trench was dug from the German front line on the night of complete with communication trenches and barbed wire. Bridges and ladders were delivered in the two days before the attack. of telephone cable was dug in at least deep, which withstood fifty German artillery hits before the British attack.


title: Battle of Messines (1917)

text: Large numbers of posts for machine-guns to fire an overhead barrage were built and protective pits were dug for mules, each of which was to carry rounds of ammunition to advanced troops. (Machine-guns were fired like artillery, over the heads of the advancing infantry. The bullets of an overhead barrage came down ahead of the attacking troops on German-held areas, forcing the garrison under cover.) Three field companies of engineers with a pioneer battalion were kept in reserve, to follow up the attacking infantry, rebuild roads and work on defensive positions as ground was consolidated. The divisional artillery devised a creeping and standing barrage plan and time-table, tailored to the estimated rates of advance of the infantry. The standing barrage lifts were to keep all trenches within of the infantry under continuous fire. The howitzer, howitzer and howitzers involved, were to change targets only when infantry got within . The 18-pounder field gun standing barrages would then jump over the creeping barrages to the next series of objectives. The concealed guns of the Guards Division field artillery were to join the creeping barrage for the advance at and at the 112th Army Field Brigade was to advance to the old front line, to be ready for an anticipated German counter-attack by


title: Battle of Messines (1917)

text: The 47th (1/2nd London) Division planned to attack with two brigades, each reinforced by a battalion from the reserve brigade, along either side of the Ypres–Comines Canal. Large numbers of machine-guns were organised to fire offensive and defensive barrages and signal detachments were organised to advance with the infantry. An observation balloon was reserved for messages by signal lamp from the front line, as insurance against the failure of telephone lines and message-runners. The divisional trench mortar batteries were to bombard the German front line opposite the 142nd Brigade, where it was too close for the artillery to shell without endangering British troops. Wire-cutting began in mid-May, against considerable local retaliation by German artillery. At the end of May the two attacking brigades went to Steenvoorde to train on practice courses built to resemble the German positions, using air reconnaissance photographs to mark the positions of machine-gun posts and hidden barbed wire. Divisional intelligence summaries were used to plan the capture of German company and battalion headquarters. The 140th Brigade, with four tanks attached, was to occupy White Château and the adjacent part of , while the 142nd Brigade attacked the spoil heaps and the canal bank to the left. On 1 June, the British artillery began the intense stage of the preparatory bombardment for trench-destruction and wire cutting; the two attacking brigades assembled for the attack from 4 to 6 June.


title: Battle of Messines (1917)

text: British fighter aircraft tried to prevent German artillery-observation aircraft from operating by dominating the air from the British front line to the German balloon line, about beyond. Better aircraft like the Bristol Fighter, S.E.5a and the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) Sopwith Triplane had entered service since Arras and matched the performance of German Albatros D.III and Halberstadt D.II fighters. For the week before the attack, the barrage line was patrolled all day by fighters at with more aircraft at in the centre of the attack front. No British corps aircraft were shot down by German aircraft until 7 June, when aircraft were able to direct artillery fire simultaneously over the three attacking corps. Behind the barrage line lay a second line of defence, which used wireless interception to take bearings on German artillery-observation aircraft to guide British aircraft into areas where German flights were most frequent. By June 1917, each British army had a control post of two aeroplane compass stations and an aeroplane intercepting station, linked by telephone to the army wing headquarters, fighter squadrons, the anti-aircraft commander and the corps heavy artillery headquarters.


title: Battle of Messines (1917)

text: The new anti-aircraft communication links allowed areas threatened by German bombardment to be warned, German artillery spotting aircraft to be attacked and German artillery batteries to be fired on when they revealed themselves. From 1 to 7 June, the II Brigade RFC had from wireless interception, shot down one German aircraft, damaged seven and stopped artillery bombardments. Normal offensive patrols continued beyond the barrage line out to a line from Ypres to Roulers and Menin, where large formations of British and German aircraft clashed in long dogfights, once German air reinforcements began operating in the area. Longer-range bombing and reconnaissance flights concentrated on German-occupied airfields and railway stations and the night bombing specialists of 100 Squadron attacked trains around Lille, Courtrai, Roulers and Comines. Two squadrons were reserved for close air support on the battlefield and low attacks on German airfields.


title: Battle of Messines (1917)

text: The British planned to advance on a front, from St Yves to Mt Sorrel, eastwards to the Oosttaverne line, a maximum depth of . Three intermediate objectives, originally to be reached a day at a time, became halts, where fresh infantry would leap-frog through to gain the ridge in one day. In the afternoon a further advance down the ridge was to be made. The attack was to be conducted by three corps of the Second Army (General Sir Herbert Plumer). II Anzac Corps in the south-east was to advance , IX Corps in the centre was to attack on a front, which would taper to at the summit and X Corps in the north had an attack front wide. The corps planned their attacks under the supervision of the army commander, using analyses of the Somme operations of 1916 and successful features of the attack at Arras on 9 April as guides. Great care was taken in the planning of counter-battery fire, the artillery barrage time-table and machine-gun barrages.


title: Battle of Messines (1917)

text: German artillery positions and the second () (Contour Position) position were not visible to British ground observers. For observation over the rear slopes of the ridge, were concentrated in II Brigade RFC and eight balloons of II Kite Balloon Wing were placed behind the British front line. The Second Army artillery commander, Major-General George Franks, co-ordinated the corps artillery plans, particularly the heavy artillery arrangements to suppress German artillery, which were devised by the corps and divisional artillery commanders. The Second Army Report Centre at Locre Château was linked by buried cable to each corps report centre, corps heavy artillery headquarters, divisional artillery headquarters, RFC squadrons, balloon headquarters, survey stations and wireless stations.


title: Battle of Messines (1917)

text: Responsibility for counter-battery fire was given to a counter-battery staff officer with a small staff, who concentrated exclusively on the defeat of the German artillery. A conference was held each evening by the counter-battery staffs of divisions and corps, methodically to collate the day's reports from observation aircraft and balloons, field survey companies, sound ranging sections and forward observation officers. Each corps had a counter-battery area, which was divided into zones and allotted to heavy artillery groups. Each heavy artillery group headquarters divided their zones into map squares, which were allotted to artillery batteries, to be ready swiftly to open fire on them.


title: Battle of Messines (1917)

text: The attacking corps organised their heavy artillery within the army plan according to local conditions. II Anzac Corps created four counter-battery groups, each with one heavy artillery group and IX Corps arranged four similar groups and five bombardment groups, one for each of its three divisions and two (with the heaviest howitzers) in reserve, under the control of the corps heavy artillery commander. A Heavy Artillery Group Commander was attached to each divisional artillery headquarters, to command the heavy artillery once the infantry attack began. Field artillery arrangements within corps also varied, in IX Corps groups and sub-groups were formed so that infantry brigades had an artillery liaison officer and two sub-groups, one with six batteries and one with six batteries. Surplus field artillery brigade headquarters planned forward moves for the guns and were kept ready to replace casualties. It was expected that much of the artillery would need to switch rapidly from the bombardment plan to engage counter-attacking German infantry. It was planned that the Forward Observation Officers of the divisions in the first attack onto the ridge would control the artillery which had remained in place and the reserve divisions advancing down the far slope to the Oosttaverne line would control the artillery hidden close to the front line and the artillery which advanced into no-man's-land.


title: Battle of Messines (1917)

text: Franks planned to neutralise German guns within of the attack front. On the flanks of the British attack front of , guns had been located, for which guns ( the German total) were set aside. The guns in the path of the attack were each to be engaged by a British gun, a formula which required guns and howitzers to be reserved for counter-battery fire. Every of front had a medium or heavy howitzer for bombardment, which required , with guns and howitzers (five per cent) deployed with the field artillery that was due to fire the creeping and standing barrages. Franks devised a bombardment timetable and added arrangements for a massed machine-gun barrage. The and heavy guns and howitzers were organised in forty groups and the guns and howitzers in sixty-four field artillery brigades within the attacking divisions and thirty-three Army field artillery brigades, divided among the three attacking corps; of ammunition was delivered, for each , per howitzer, for each medium and heavy piece and another and shells for the field guns.


title: Battle of Messines (1917)

text: Two-thirds of the were to fire a creeping barrage of shrapnel immediately ahead of the advance, while the remainder of the field guns and howitzers were to fire a standing barrage, further ahead on German positions, lifting to the next target when the infantry came within of the barrage. Each division was given four extra batteries of field artillery, which could be withdrawn from the barrage at the divisional commander's discretion to engage local targets. The field batteries of the three reserve divisions were placed in camouflaged positions close to the British front line. As each objective was taken by the infantry, the creeping barrage was to pause ahead and become a standing barrage while the infantry consolidated. During this time the pace of fire was to slacken to one round per-gun per-minute, allowing the gun-crews a respite, before resuming full intensity as the barrage moved on. The heavy and super-heavy artillery was to fire on German artillery positions and rear areas and were to fire a barrage over the heads of the advancing troops.


title: Battle of Messines (1917)

text: At the mines were to be detonated, followed by the attack of nine divisions onto the ridge. The blue line (first objective) was to be occupied by followed by a two-hour pause. At the advance to the black line (second objective) would begin and consolidation was to start by Fresh troops from the unengaged brigades of the attacking divisions or from the reserve divisions would then pass through, to attack the Oosttaverne line at As soon as the black line was captured, all guns were to bombard the Oosttaverne line, conduct counter-battery fire and place a standing barrage beyond the black line. All operational tanks were to join with the in reserve, to support the infantry advance to the Oosttaverne line.


title: Battle of Messines (1917)

text: The Messines defences were on a forward slope and could be overlooked from Haubourdin Hill , the south end of the Douve Valley and Kemmel Hill, west of , an arrangement which the experience of 1916 showed to be obsolete. A new line, incorporating the revised principles of defence derived from the experience of the Battle of the Somme, known as the , began in February 1917. The first section began behind Messines Ridge, running north from the Lys to Linselles then Werviq and Beselare, where the nearest areas giving good artillery observation to the west were found. In April, Field Marshal Crown Prince Rupprecht and his chief of staff, (Lieutenant-General) Hermann von Kuhl, favoured withdrawal to the Warneton (third) line, before a British attack. The local divisional commanders objected, due to their belief that counter-mining had neutralised the British underground threat and the inadequacy of the Warneton line. The convex eastern slope limited artillery observation and the canal and the river Lys restricted the space below the ridge where infantry could manoeuvre for counter-attacks. British observation from the ridge would make the ground to the east untenable as far as the beyond. A withdrawal to the would endanger the southern slopes of Menin Ridge, the most important area of the . Rupprecht re-examined the Warneton (third) line and the extra between the Warneton Line and the (Contour Position) and dropped the withdrawal proposal.


title: Battle of Messines (1917)

text: The German front line regiments held areas wide with one () battalion forward, one () battalion in support and the third in reserve back. The battalion usually had three companies in the front system (which had three lines of breastworks called "Ia", "Ib" and "Ic") and one in the (intermediate) line (with a company of the support battalion, available for immediate counter-attack) between the front system and the on the ridge crest. The other three companies of the support battalion sheltered in the . About posts per regimental sector were dispersed around the defensive zone. The German defence was intended to be mobile and in "Ic" the third breastwork had to conduct immediate counter-attacks to recapture "Ia" and "Ib". If they had to fall back, the support battalions would advance to restore the front system, except at Spanbroekmolen Hill, which due to its importance was to be held at all costs ().


title: Battle of Messines (1917)

text: On 8 May, the British preliminary bombardment began and on 23 May became much heavier. The breastworks of the front defences were demolished and concrete shelters on both sides of the ridge were systematically destroyed. Air superiority allowed the British artillery observation aircraft to cruise over the German defences, despite the efforts of "Jagdgeschwader" 1 (the Richthofen Circus). On 26 May, the German front garrisons were ordered to move forward into shell-holes in no-man's-land at dawn and return to their shelters at night. When the shelters were destroyed, shell-hole positions were made permanent, as were those of the companies further back. Troops in the were withdrawn behind the ridge and by the end of May, the front battalions changed every two days instead of every five, due to the effect of the British bombardment.


title: Battle of Messines (1917)

text: Some German troops on the ridge were convinced of the mine danger and their morale was depressed further by the statement of a prisoner taken on 6 June, that the attack would be synchronised with mine explosions. On 1 June, the British bombardment became more intense and nearly every German defensive position on the forward slope was obliterated. The (German air service) effort reached its maximum on 4 and 5 June, when German aircraft observed counter-battery shoots and wireless interception by the British showed German aircraft, escorted by up to seven fighters each, directing artillery fire against the Second Army. British air observation on the reverse slope was less effective than in the foreground but the villages of and were demolished, as were much of the and , although many pill boxes survived. Long-range fire on Comines, Warneton, Wervicq and villages, road junctions, railways and bridges caused much damage and a number of ammunition dumps were destroyed.


title: Battle of Messines (1917)

text: Fine weather was forecast for 4 June, with perhaps a morning haze (between 15 May and 9 June the weather was "fair" or "fine" except for , when it was "very bad"). Zero Day was fixed for 7 June, with zero hour at when it was expected that a man could be seen from the west at . There was a thunderstorm in the evening of 6 June but by midnight the sky had cleared and at British aircraft cruised over the German lines to camouflage the sound of tanks as they drove to their starting points. By the attacking troops had reached their jumping-off positions unnoticed, except for some in the II Anzac Corps area.


title: Battle of Messines (1917)

text: Routine British artillery night firing stopped around half an hour before dawn and birdsong could be heard. At the mines began to detonate. After the explosions, the British artillery began to fire at maximum rate. A creeping barrage in three belts deep began and counter-battery groups bombarded all known German artillery positions with gas shell. The nine attacking divisions and the three in reserve began their advance as the German artillery reply came scattered and late, falling on British assembly trenches after they had been vacated.


title: Battle of Messines (1917)

text: The II Anzac Corps objective was the southern part of the ridge and Messines village. The 3rd Australian Division on the right, had been disorganised by a German gas bombardment on Ploegsteert (Plugstreet to the British) Wood around midnight, which caused during the approach march but the attack between St Yves and the river Douve began on time. The 9th and 10th Brigades benefitted from four mine explosions at Trenches which were seven seconds early and left craters wide and deep. The craters disrupted the Australian attack formation, some infantry lines merging into a wave before reforming as they advanced. The New Zealand Division approached over and avoided the German gas bombardment. The two attacking brigades crossed the dry riverbed of the Steenebeke and took the German front line, despite the mine at La Petite Douve Farm not being fired and then advanced towards Messines village. On the left of the corps, the 25th Division began its advance further back than the New Zealand Division but quickly caught up, helped by the mine at Ontario Farm.


title: Battle of Messines (1917)

text: On the right of IX Corps, the 36th (Ulster) Division attack on the front of the 107th Brigade, was supported by three mines at Kruisstraat and the big mine at Spanbroekmolen, further north. The 109th Brigade on the left was helped by a mine at Peckham House and the devastated area was crossed without resistance, as German survivors in the area had been stunned by the mine explosions. The 16th (Irish) Division attacked between Maedelstede Farm and the Vierstraat–Wytschaete road. The mines at Maedelstede and the two at Petit Bois devastated the defence; the mines at Petit Bois on the left were about late and knocked over some of the advancing British infantry. On the left of IX Corps, the 19th Division, north of the road, attacked with two brigades into the remains of Grand Bois and Bois Quarante. Three mine explosions at Hollandscheschuur allowed the infantry to take a dangerous salient at Nag's Nose, as German survivors surrendered or retreated.


title: Battle of Messines (1917)

text: X Corps had a relatively short advance of to the crest and another across the summit, which would uncover the German defences further north on the southern slope of the Gheluvelt plateau and the ground back to Zandvoorde. The German defences had been strengthened and had about double the normal infantry garrison. The German artillery concentration around Zandvoorde made a British attack in the area highly vulnerable but the British counter-battery effort suppressed the German artillery, its replies being late and ragged. On the night of gaps were cut in the British wire to allow the troops to assemble in no-man's-land, ready to attack at


title: Battle of Messines (1917)

text: The 41st Division attacked with two brigades past a mine under the St Eloi salient, finding the main obstacle to be wreckage caused by the explosion. The 47th and 23rd divisions formed the left defensive flank of the attack, advancing onto the ridge around the Ypres–Comines canal and railway, past the mines at Caterpillar and Hill 60. The cuttings of the canal and railway were a warren of German dug-outs but the 47th Division, advancing close up to the creeping barrage, crossed the of the German front position in German infantry surrendering along the way. Soft ground in the valley south of Mt Sorrel, led the two infantry brigades of the 23rd Division to advance on either side up to the near crest of the ridge, arriving while the ground still shook from the mines at