Unisex car licences in US
– Oregon became the first US state to allow residents to identify neither male nor female on state drivers’ licences – a decision that transgender advocates called a victory for civil rights.
Under a policy unanimously adopted by the Oregon Transportation Commission, residents can choose to have an X, for nonspecified, displayed on their license or identification cards, rather than an M for male or F for female.
The policy change was cheered by supporters as a major step in expanding legal recognition and civil rights for people who do not identify as male or female. This includes individuals with both male and female anatomies, people without a gender identity and those who identify as a different gender than listed on their birth certificate.
The state’s driver and motor vehicle (DMV) services division expects to start offering the option from next month.
“I very much plan to head to the nearest DMV and ask for that ID to be corrected on July 3,” said Jamie Shupe, an Army veteran who successfully petitioned for the nonbinary gender option.
“And then I’ll no doubt stand out front of the building, or sit in the car and cry.”
Transgender rights have become a flashpoint across the US after some states have tried to restrict transgender people’s use of public bathrooms.
At the end of May, a federal court ruled that a transgender boy must be allowed to use the boys’ bathrooms at his high school in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
The decision in Oregon comes a year after a Portland circuit court judge granted a request by Shupe to change gender from female to a third, nongender option.
That 2016-ruling prompted state officials to examine how to allow a third option in the state’s computer systems and how such a change would interact with the state’s gender laws.
During public hearings on the change, most comments were in favour, according to a summary by DMV officials.
A handful of people questioned the need for the third option.
Having the third option on legal documentation can help reduce discrimination and raise awareness of “the spectrum of gender identity”, said Diane Goodwin, spokesperson for Basic Rights Oregon, an advocacy group that campaigned for the X option. – Reuters
Salem