By Terray Sylvester (Reuters) – Oregon became on
By Terray Sylvester
(Reuters) – Oregon became on Thursday the first U. S. state to allow residents to identify as other than male or female on state driver’s licenses, a decision that transgender advocates called a victory.
Under a policy unanimously adopted by the Oregon Transportation Commission, residents can choose to have an « X, » for non-specified, displayed on their drivers’ license or identification cards rather than an « M » for male or « F » for female. The move was cheered by supporters as a civil rights victory.
The state’s Driver and Motor Vehicle Services Division expects to start offering the option in July.
« I very much plan to head to the nearest DMV and ask for that ID to be corrected on July 3rd, » said Jamie Shupe, an Army veteran who successfully petitioned for the non-binary 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 United States after some states, including North Carolina, 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 favor, according to a summary by DMV officials.
A handful of people questioned the need for the third option and expressed concern that the change would complicate police officers’ efforts to identify people.
A DMV spokesman added the agency has no estimate of how many people might apply for the new IDs.
(Reporting by Terray Sylvester in Hood River, Oregon; Writing by Eric M. Johnson in Seattle; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
