Racegoers at this year’s Royal Ascot will be given free rein to sport name badges showing their ‘gender non-binary’ status.
Visitors to the Royal Enclosure who feel uncomfortable at being regarded as ‘male’ or ‘female’ can request a hand-written badge bearing the non-specific gender denomination ‘Mx’ rather than ‘Mr’ or ‘Mrs’ – and there will be gender non-binary loos, too.
A spokesman for the Berkshire racecourse said: ‘A guest can choose what denomination is listed on their badge.’
But not everyone is convinced. ‘I accept that things are moving on in society but the problem is that they are trying to be woke,’ said a former badge writer for Ascot, who has been a member for 40 years.
‘What do you wear if you are gender neutral? I hope they aren’t going to have gender neutral loos.’
Meanwhile, non-titled women who are married, and those who are divorced but not remarried, will automatically be allocated the prefix ‘Mrs’ along with their husband’s first name and surname on their badges unless they specify otherwise.
Suzy Lewis, a long-time member, said: ‘It’s funny how they can be so antiquated on one hand and so woke on the other. It’s really hard when you are divorced. Somehow Miss makes you feel like a child or a ‘spinster’ and Mrs is married even when divorced. Ms looks like a typo and Mx like a cooking instruction.’
While Ascot’s fashion brochure features a gay couple for the first time modelling a flamboyant striped purple jacket and pink cord suit, the famously strict dress code will still apply in the Royal Enclosure.
‘People may choose to wear any outfit that adheres to the dress code guidelines and is appropriate to their enclosure, regardless of gender identity and presentation,’ an official said.
Three years ago, rules were amended to allow transgender racegoers to adopt the dress code that matched their identity as long as they stuck to the dress code.
Before 1970, women visitors to the Royal Enclosure were not permitted to wear trousers, and it was only in 1955 that divorcees were permitted access.