The state of Oregon is considering allowing people to identify as a gender other than male or female on a driver's license. Instead of the typical "F" or "M" options, a license of a nonbinary person who does not identify with either gender would have an "X" in the sex section. The Oregon Department of Motor Vehicles said that they are fine with the change.
If this change goes through, Oregon will be the first state where a person would be legally able to identify as a gender other than male or female.
Officials will host a public hearing on the proposed change Wednesday in Portland. If approved, Oregonians could change their licenses and identification cards beginning this summer. Instead of "F" or "M," their licenses would display "X" under sex.
"Some people don't identify as male or female," said Amy Herzfeld-Copple, the co-executive director of Basic Rights Oregon. "We're excited by the DMV proposal because it's an important step in recognizing what we already know to be true. Gender is a spectrum."
If the proposal is approved, it will go into place this summer. There are an estimated 20,000 transgender people in Oregon who may wish to update their gender to the "X" on a driver's license. Oregon is already home to one person who is legally identified as "nonbinary"--Jamie Shupe, an Army veteran who lives in Portland.